Examination of the admissibility of the opposition and preparation of the examination of the opposition should be commenced immediately after the notice of opposition has been received by the formalities officer or the Opposition Division (see IV, 1 and 3, and V, 1 and 2).

If during the rest of the proceedings the Opposition Division, on account of the amount of work in hand, is unable to process immediately all the oppositions submitted, the reference date for the sequence of tasks will, in principle, be the date on which the last observations in respect of which a time limit had been laid down were submitted by any of the parties, but may not be later than the date on which the time limit expired. Documents received unsolicited or not subject to a previously stipulated official time limit, in connection with official communications setting a time limit, will not affect the sequence of tasks unless they require a further early notification setting a time limit.