Reading Law

I've been preparing for the U.S. Patent Agent exam in a desultory sort of a way. However, since the exam is only offered in the U.S., and I don't want to travel by plane any time soon, I put that on hold for the nonce and switched my focus to the Israeli Patent Agent exam.

One of the first interesting things I learned is that I understand the language of Hebrew patent law more readily that the language of English patent law. The English legal jargon just feels foreign to me, while the Hebrew legal jargon just sounds like halacha.

For example, the official manual of American patent examination says things like:

As an initial matter, Office personnel should note that the introductory phrase “[a] person shall be entitled to a patent unless” remains unchanged from the pre-AIA version of 35 U.S.C. 102. Thus, 35 U.S.C. 102 continues to provide that the Office bears the initial burden of explaining why the applicable statutory or regulatory requirements have not been met if a claim in an application is to be rejected. 

Section 4 of the preamble to the Israeli law begins:

אמצאה חדשה - מהי 

אמצאה, נחשבת לחדשה, אם לא נתפרסמה בפומבי, בין בישראל ובין מחוצה לה, לפני תאריך הבקשה...

A new invention: what is it?

An invention is considered new if it has not been become known in public, whether in Israel our whether outside of it, before the application date...

Until I wrote this post, I was at a loss. Do I just need to slow down a little in English? Should I try mentally translating into Hebrew? 

As I'm writing this post, I realize that if I slow down my typical English reading speed considerably and resist the urge to follow references, the American manual does indeed make much more sense. I've also realized that for the Israeli exam, I've been studying the text of the Hebrew law, while for the American exam, I've been trying to read the manual discussing the law.