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The RPBA were thoroughly revised in 2003, in particular with regard to late submissions. The admissibility of subsequent amendments to a party's submissions (whether they be facts, evidence or requests) was expressly rendered a matter for the board's discretion (see, for a comprehensive account, CA/133/02). When the RPBA were revised again in 2007, the provisions on subsequent amendments were retained, albeit renumbered.
The provisions of the RPBA governing the admissibility of late requests essentially codify the boards' settled case law on this point (T 87/05). Art. 12 and Art. 13 RPBA 2007 (not amended, formerly Art. 10a and Art. 10b RPBA 2003, entry into force on 1 May 2003) are essentially aimed at concentrating the parties' submissions at an early stage of the proceedings, to ensure that the case is as complete as possible when it is processed. In particular, amendments which would lead to an adjournment of the oral proceedings should not be admitted.
Under Art. 12(2) RPBA 2007, the statement of grounds of appeal and the reply must contain a party's complete case and should, inter alia, specify expressly all the facts, arguments and evidence relied on. Under Art. 13(1) RPBA 2007, the boards have discretion to admit and consider any amendment to a party's case after it has filed its grounds of appeal or reply. This discretion must be exercised in view of, inter alia, the complexity of the new subject-matter, the current state of the proceedings and the need for procedural economy. Art. 13(3) RPBA 2007 adds that amendments sought to be made after oral proceedings have been arranged may not be admitted "if they raise issues which the Board or the other party or parties cannot reasonably be expected to deal with without adjournment of the oral proceedings".
Art. 13(1) RPBA 2007 thus governs the implications of an initially incomplete case and the admission of later amendments. Art. 12(4) RPBA 2007 expressly refers to the boards' power to exclude requests which could have been filed in the first-instance proceedings.
It is settled case law that, in addition to the factors set out in Art. 13 RPBA 2007, matters which may be relevant for the exercise of discretion to admit a new request at a late stage of the proceedings include the request's prospects of success and the question whether its content converges with and expands on facts already discussed or shifts the focus to facts not discussed in the proceedings (T 1474/06).