Article 55

1. The Office shall examine any evidence given or obtained in any proceedings before it to the extent necessary to take a decision in the proceedings in question.

2. The documents or other items of evidence shall be contained in annexes to a submission which shall be numbered consecutively. The submission shall include an index indicating, for each document or item of evidence annexed:

(a) the number of the annex;

(b) a short description of the document or item and, if applicable, the number of pages;

(c) the page number of the submission where the document or item is mentioned.

The submitting party may also indicate, in the index of annexes, which specific parts of a document it relies upon in support of its arguments.

3. Where the submission or the annexes do not comply with the requirements set out in paragraph 2, the Office may invite the submitting party to remedy any deficiency, within a period specified by the Office.

4. Where the deficiency is not remedied within the period specified by the Office, and where it is still not possible for the Office to clearly establish to which ground or argument a document or item of evidence refers, that document or item shall not be taken into account.