Canada recently introduced new legislation (The Budget
Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2) which brought about several
changes to the Patent Act affecting the scope of
protection available under Canadian patents. Included in the
changes was the addition of a new provision providing an exception
from infringement for experimental use of patented
technologies.
New section 55.3 of the Patent Act, which came into
force on December 13, 2018, provides:
55.3 (1) An act committed for the purpose of experimentation
relating to the subject-matter of a patent is not an infringement
of the patent.
(2) The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting
(a) factors that the court may consider, must consider or is not
permitted to consider in determining whether an act is, or is not,
committed for the purpose set out in subsection (1); and
