What is one of the specific conditions under which joint research agreements can allow for non-commonly owned applications to be treated as commonly owned under 102(c)?

Joint research agreements enable collaborators to work together on inventions while primarily maintaining their individual ownership. One of the specific conditions under which non-commonly owned applications can be treated as commonly owned under 35 U.S.C. 102(c) is that the subject matter must have been created by multiple parties involved in the collaboration.

This provision accounts for the contributions of each party and allows for flexibility in patenting arrangements while still respecting the contributions made under the collaborative agreement. In essence, when multiple parties contribute to the creation of an invention within the scope of a joint research agreement, those inventions can be treated as a collective effort, which can streamline the patenting process and facilitate broader protection for the invention, even if the parties hold separate interests initially.