EPO-BoA: New non-medical uses of known substances

Enlarged Board of Appeal decisions G 2/88 and G 6/88 are limited to patent claims directed to (new) non-medical uses of a known substance for a specific purpose, and not to manufacturing processes within the meaning of Article 64(2) EPC. For the (new) purpose to be read as a limiting technical feature in the claim, it must relate to the use and not merely to a physical property of the known substance. Patent claims which, when properly interpreted, are directed to processes that result in products within the meaning of Article 64(2) EPC do not fall under the special treatment for use claims established in G 2/88 and G 6/88—even if they contain the word “use.” If an invention relates to a new technical effect of a physical property that can only manifest as part of a process for manufacturing or producing a product, such that it is inseparably linked to a manufacturing process and cannot occur independently of it, then a claim directed to the "use" of the physical property to achieve this effect is to be regarded as being directed to the manufacturing process itself. (EPO Boards of Appeal, 17 October 2024,  T 1913/21, Preventing trisulfide bonds/BIOGEN)