What is the relationship between 35 U.S.C. 119(e) and patent application assignments?

35 U.S.C. 119(e) is crucial in understanding the relationship between provisional applications and their non-provisional counterparts, particularly in terms of assignments. The MPEP § 306.01 states:

If an application which claims the benefit of the earlier filing date of a provisional application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) includes only subject matter which formed a part of the provisional application, an assignment recorded against the provisional application will be effective in the later application, similar to the practice with respect to continuations and divisions filed under 35 U.S.C. 120.

This means:

• 35 U.S.C. 119(e) allows non-provisional applications to claim the benefit of an earlier filing date from a provisional application.
• When a non-provisional application claims this benefit and contains only subject matter from the provisional, the assignment recorded for the provisional application remains effective for the non-provisional.
• This treatment aligns with how assignments are handled for continuations and divisions under 35 U.S.C. 120.

However, if new subject matter is introduced in the non-provisional application, different assignment rules may apply, as detailed in other parts of MPEP § 306.01.