6.1.2 Proceedings after delivery of the decision

In T 843/91 date: 1993-03-17 (OJ 1994, 818) it was stated that once a decision had been taken the board was no longer empowered or competent to take any further action apart from drafting the written decision (see also T 296/93, OJ 1995, 627, where the board disregarded statements filed after the announcement of the decision, and T 515/94). In T 304/92 the respondent's request to file new claims after the chairman had announced the board's decision was rejected, but recorded (with the response) in the summary of facts.

However, in T 212/88 (OJ 1992, 28) a request for apportionment of costs submitted after the substantive decision had been announced at the end of the oral proceedings had been, exceptionally, admitted. Although the practice of the boards was that all requests by parties, including any request as to costs, should be made before any decision was announced in oral proceedings, this practice had not been published and so there was no reason why parties or their representatives should have been aware of it. In T 598/92 an error in a claim was corrected at the request of the appellant one day after the decision was delivered at the end of oral proceedings.

After the board in T 1518/11 had announced its decision to dismiss the appeal against the refusal of the application in suit and closed the oral proceedings, the appellant stated by letter that the appeal was withdrawn. However, since the decision had already been announced at the oral proceedings and thereby became effective on that day, the appeal proceedings had already terminated (following T 843/91 date: 1993-03-17, OJ 1994, 818) and the appellant's submission made after the announcement of the board's decision was without any legal effect. Furthermore, a statement of withdrawal of appeal made by the (sole) appellant after the final decision of the board had been announced at oral proceedings did not relieve the board of its duty to issue the decision in writing, setting out the reasons for the decision, and notify the appellant of it (following T 1033/04).