For a joint research agreement to qualify under 102(c), what must have occurred before the effective filing date?

For a joint research agreement to qualify under 102(c), the essential requirement is that the establishment of the joint research agreement must have occurred before the effective filing date of the patent application. This is significant because, under the AIA (America Invents Act), a joint research agreement allows for certain shared rights and collaboration between parties, which can affect the novelty and patentability of an invention.

The establishment of a joint research agreement ensures that there is a formalized collaboration between two or more entities conducting research on a specific invention, allowing them to treat their combined efforts (and any resulting inventions) as if they are a single unit for patent purposes. This can be crucial in situations involving shared inventions, where determining inventorship and rights can be complex if such agreements are not in place.

The other options, while related to various aspects of patent law, do not pertain directly to the qualifying criteria for a joint research agreement under 102(c). For instance, signatures from all parties may not be necessary as long as the agreement has been established, and the claimed invention being in progress is irrelevant to the filing of the agreement itself. Similarly, designating all inventors is not required for the agreement to be valid; what matters is that the agreement exists before