Art. 15(5) RPBA 2007 reads: "When a case is ready for decision during oral proceedings, the Chairman shall state the final requests of the parties and declare the debate closed. No submissions may be made by the parties after the closure of the debate unless the Board decides to re-open the debate."

According to the established practice, the closing of the debate marks the last moment in the oral proceedings at which parties can still make submissions.

In T 628/90 an allegation of public prior use, which was filed for the first time in appeal proceedings and was adequately substantiated, was taken into account because of its possible relevance to enable thorough consideration to be given to the patentability of the subject-matter of the contested patent (see also T 150/93, T 947/99).