What is the purpose of the 102(b)(2)(C) exception regarding common ownership?

The purpose of the 102(b)(2)(C) exception regarding common ownership is to establish that the material is commonly owned. This provision is part of the United States patent law, specifically related to the conditions under which an earlier-filed application can act as prior art against a later-filed application. When two or more applications are commonly owned, the prior art disclosure in one application cannot be used to negate the novelty of the later application. This recognizes that when a single entity owns multiple patents relating to similar subjects, it creates a different legal context where the disclosures do not compete against each other for patentability considerations. As a result, common ownership essentially allows inventors or companies to safeguard their innovations without the risk of disqualifying claims based on previously disclosed inventions that they hold ownership for.