The Experimental Use defense in Patent Infringement Litigations: An Absolute or Conditional Exception?

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 IP Department, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University

2 Intellectual Property Department, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University

Abstract

One of the defenses to patent infringement is the experimental use of the invention. This exception is accepted in The Registration of Patents, Industrial Designs and Trademarks Act of 2008. The Act, however, has no clue on the criterion for application of this exception and no case in this regard has yet been brought before the Iranian courts. On the other hand, some of the patent systems, namely the German and the U.S. one, have recognized a distinction between the commercial intent of the use and a non-commercial one as a criterion of the permissible act. Accordingly, the experiments done with a non-commercial purpose should be allowed while the ones with a commercial intent would be considered as an infringement. The case law of the two above-mentioned systems, however, shows otherwise. The current essay intends to investigate the different cases of experimental use and tries to show that the considered distinction cannot function effectively as a criterion to apply the exception especially where the purpose of the use is non-commercial but the patent is used extensively or vice versa where the use is done with a commercial intent but there is a public interest in permitting the act.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Legal Research Quarterly
Volume 20, Issue 80
February 2018
Pages 157-186

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History

  • Receive Date: 17 May 2016
  • Revise Date: 21 January 2018
  • Accept Date: 06 October 2016

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