d) Other aspects must be considered

In T 1984/19 the board found that determining whether late-filed documents were prima facie more relevant than those already on file was only one of several aspects that needed to be balanced when taking the discretionary decision to admit or not admit late-filed evidence into the proceedings. Other aspects included the point in time at which the evidence was first presented and the amount of time available for the other party to deal with it and prepare a meaningful reply, or the complexity of the new submission and the expected lengthening of the proceedings that its admittance would cause.