b) Early objection raised by examining division reintroduced by board 

In T 922/17 the board took into consideration that, while the objection at issue had already been introduced by the examining division in an earlier communication, it was contained in neither the communication underlying the contested decision with respect to the main request nor the contested decision. The board therefore held that, in the case in hand, the fact that it had reintroduced the Art. 123(2) EPC objection in its communication under Art. 15(1) RPBA 2020 could be regarded as an exceptional circumstance within the meaning of Art. 13(2) RPBA 2020. Moreover, the effect of the amendments at issue was readily apparent, such that the board was satisfied that the appellant had justified the amendments by cogent reasons as required by Art. 13(2) RPBA 2020.

However, see also the decisions summarised below in chapter V.A.4.5.6b) (T 2778/17, T 2279/16, T 14/20, T 1080/15, T 597/16, T 689/15), in which the boards considered the requirement of exceptional circumstances not to be fulfilled for objections or arguments that had already been raised by the examining division.