7.5. Process claims containing product features

In T 1761/19 the board addressed the interpretation of process claims containing product-type features (that could perhaps be described as "process-by-product" claims). According to the appellant, these features defined the process only in so far as they had an impact on the process features. For the board, the analogy with "product-by-process" claims was not valid. That type of claim was allowed where it was impossible to define the product obtained other than in terms of its manufacturing process. That was not comparable to a situation involving a process claim specifying that the process in question concerned a particular product. In that situation, the product feature simply limited the process to its application to that product; it was not necessary or even worthwhile to examine whether the feature had any effect on the process steps themselves.