In T 1194/08 the opposition division indicated that E15, a late filed document, was accepted as a belated submission. In the oral proceedings, however, the opposition division decided to reject the document as having been filed late. In the opinion of the board, the opposition division was not entitled to reverse its admittance of the document during the oral proceedings.

In T 68/02 document D16 was discussed extensively by the respondent without objecting to its admission into the proceedings. At the start of the oral proceedings before the opposition division the respondent requested that the document not be admitted into the proceedings. The opposition division as a consequence did not admit the document. The board could not agree with the action of the opposition division in this respect. The discussion of the document by the respondent and the opposition division before the oral proceedings took place led to the normal expectation that the document was already in the proceedings.