A decision by the German Supreme Court in the Clinical Trials case relating to patent infringement has provoked some comment. German law, like that of other European countries that have amended their laws to conform with the Community Patent Convention, contains a provision taking certain experimental uses outside the scope of patent infringement. In the present case, the patent claimed gamma interferon of a defined amino acid sequence free from any other protein with which it is ordinarily associated. The defendants were carrying out clinical tests to determine whether gamma interferon was useful in the treatment of additional conditions beyond those mentioned in the patent. After noting that its previous decision on experimental use in the Ethofumesate case had been decided under previous law and so was not a reliable guide, and after looking at Dutch and British decisions, the court concluded that in cases where the experiments in question were intended for the purpose of research or to promote technological progress, as was the situation in the present case, then the mere fact that there might be some ultimate commercial consequences did not preclude the application of the experimental use exemption.