Combined Method and Apparatus Claims

Attorneys sometimes want to know whether it is proper to combine method claims with apparatus or composition claims. The answer is yes. If claim 1 recites some new type of chair, then claim 2 could recite a method of sitting on a lawn, comprising "providing a chair as in claim 1, placing it on the lawn, and sitting in the chair". Similarly, if claim 1 recites a method of producing ethanol using a specific process, a dependent claim 22 might well recite "a processing plant having a distilling column and heat exchanger arranged to utilize the method of claim 1 inch.