A strict concept of novelty will normally result in the rejection of product patents for new uses. This may be stated in express terms in a country’s patent law or in regulations, resulting in an a priori rejection of the novelty test for product claims of new uses of known products. As regards the protection under a process patent, however, the situation is more complex. Whether or not a new use is obvious is case-specific and cannot generally be anticipated in a domestic patent law, but has to be left to a case-by-case examination.