Without prejudice to the generality of clauses (I) and (II) of the definition of “research and development activities” in section 766 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, an activity falling within any of the following categories shall not be a research and development activity for the purposes of that section:

(a) research in the social sciences (including economics, business management and behavioral sciences), arts or humanities,

(b) routine testing and analysis for the purposes of quality or quantity control,

(c) alterations of a cosmetic or stylistic nature to existing products, services or processes whether or not these alterations represent some improvement,

(d) operational research such as management studies or efficiency surveys which are not wholly and exclusively undertaken for the purposes of a specific research and development activity,

(e) corrective action in connection with break-downs during commercial production of a product,

(f) legal and administrative work in connection with patent applications, records and litigation and the sale or licensing of patents,

(g) activity, including design and construction engineering, relating to the construction, relocation, rearrangement or start-up of facilities or equipment other than facilities or equipment which is or are to be used wholly and exclusively for the purposes of carrying on by the company concerned of research and development activities,