Jurisdiction Concerning Infringement
The EPC does not regulate matters of infringement: national legislation must be consulted to address this issue (A64(3) EPC).
In any event, a European patent or a national patent will confer the same rights from the date of its publication (A64(1) EPC).
Nevertheless, the EPC provides some guidelines regarding the scope of protection granted by a European patent or a European patent application.
Scope of Protection
Principle
The scope of protection conferred by the European patent or by the European patent application is determined by the claims (A69(1) EPC).
Thus, the claims must be carefully reviewed to determine whether an infringer exists.
Interpretation of this Scope
It may occur that certain terms are unclear: in such cases, the description may be used to clarify the meaning (and thus the scope) of the claims (A69(1) EPC).
However, let us not confuse this: interpretation using the description or drawings is not intended to clarify a claim during examination (within the meaning of A84 EPC). This interpretation serves solely to best identify the protection.
Extension of Protection to Manufactured Products
In theory, if your claims cover a process, you may only prohibit third parties from using the process (and associated acts) but nothing more.
However, in the case of a manufacturing process, it is accepted that the protection also extends to products directly obtained by that process (even if the product is not novel…) (A64(2) EPC).