Between receipt of the search report and receipt of the first communication from the examiner, issued according to III, 3.3 and 3.3.1 above, the applicant may submit amendments of his own volition and in response to the search opinion. These amendments may occasionally arrive after despatch of the communication. In such a case, the examiner may have to withdraw the previous first communication and issue a new first communication taking these amendments into consideration and specifying a new period for reply.