Is it possible to conduct research in an area covered by a patent?
There is no interest in duplicating research efforts as this would mean wasting both Community and participantsâ financial resources. Potential participants in EU funded projects should therefore identify clearly the state of the art related to their proposal and carefully assess third party intellectual property rights to avoid any infringement. It may nevertheless be of interest to conduct further research in an area where one or more patents exist, for instance to improve a technology. At national level, legislation may provide that the rights conferred by a patent are limited in some cases, e.g. do not extend to acts done for experimental purposes relating to the subject-matter of the patented invention (i.e. a research exemption).
