Patent systems were designed to encourage and reward innovation. A system that prevents research into the subject matter covered by a patent would be inconsistent with such goals, and so the patent systems of most countries contain a provision that exempts from infringement experiments performed relating to the subject matter of a patent. In this article, the extent of the exclusion for experimental acts in Europe, particularly the UK, is discussed. I consider what constitutes an experimental act and to what extent the experimental use provision can effect scientific development.
