5.6. 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. See also R 5/15.