g) Claim amendments prima facie give rise to new objections – requests not admitted 

In T 700/15 the board had doubts about whether claim 1 of each the auxiliary requests at issue (0, 1₀, 1a₀, etc.) was compatible with Art. 123(2) and 84 EPC. The claim contained a feature related to the result envisaged in the application. Finding that, in any event, the amendments made in claim 1 of each of the auxiliary requests gave rise prima facie to new objections, the board exercised its discretion under Art. 13(1) RPBA 2020 not to admit the auxiliary requests.

The board in T 136/16 likewise exercised its discretion not to admit two auxiliary requests, in particular because the amendment in auxiliary request 1 gave rise prima facie to a new objection under Art. 84 EPC. It also considered that the amendment could and should have been made at an earlier stage in the proceedings.