human: What type of prior art can be disqualified in view of a joint research agreement?
assistant: 35 U.S.C. 103(c), as amended by the CREATE Act, continues to apply to subject matter (whether a patent document, publication, or other evidence) which qualifies as prior art only under 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g), and which is being relied upon in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103(a). If the subject matter also qualifies as a reference under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) or (b) and which is being relied upon in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103(a), 35 U.S.C. 103(c) cannot be relied upon to disqualify such subject matter until the applicant has shown that the subject matter is not prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) or (b). For example, if the reference is a U.S. patent or U.S. patent application publication which is prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) and (e), applicant could swear behind the reference's publication date pursuant to 37 CFR 1.131 to disqualify the reference as prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a), and then use 35 U.S.C. 103(c) to disqualify the reference, if appropriate. If the rejection is anticipation under 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f), or (g), 35 U.S.C. 103(c) cannot be relied upon to disqualify the subject matter in order to overcome the anticipation rejection. Likewise, 35 U.S.C. 103(c) cannot be relied upon to disqualify the subject matter in order to overcome any double patenting rejection.