Claims for products defined in terms of a process of manufacture are allowable only if the products as such fulfil the requirements for patentability, i.e. inter alia that they are new and inventive. A product is not rendered novel merely by the fact that it is produced by means of a new process (see T 150/82, OJ 7/1984, 309). A claim defining a product in terms of a process is to be construed as a claim to the product as such. The claim may for instance take the form "Product X obtainable by process Y". Irrespective of whether the term "obtainable", "obtained", "directly obtained" or an equivalent wording is used in the product-by-process claim, it is still directed to the product per se and confers absolute protection upon the product (see T 20/94, not published in OJ).

According to Art. 64(2), if the subject-matter of a European patent is a process, the protection conferred by the patent extends to the products directly obtained by such process. The provisions of this Article are understood to apply to processes producing products completely different from the starting materials as well as to the processes producing only superficial changes (e.g. painting, polishing).