4.6. Parties' right to submit observations on amendments – Article 13(2) RPBA 2007

In R 9/11 the Enlarged Board held that Art. 13(2) RPBA 2007, which gives parties a right to comment on new submissions filed by others, did not inevitably extend to having all auxiliary requests – without any further examination of their prima facie allowability – automatically admitted into the proceedings. In R 1/13 the Enlarged Board stated that the petitioner's suggestion that the right to be heard carries with it, in the case of requests filed in response to late objections, a right to a full discussion which transcends the requirement of admissibility was simply incorrect. A late objection may lead to more latitude in the filing of requests in response but there is no certainty of admissibility, let alone of a more thorough discussion if admissibility is achieved. If the petitioner was correct, any request filed in response to a late objection would be admissible even if it clearly had no prospect of overcoming the objection. There can be no such right of automatic admissibility for those making the new submissions.