Agency Must Discuss Evaluated Weaknesses
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 09.14.04
In defending its award decision before the GAO in Cygnus Corp., Inc. (Dec. 30, 2003), the National Institutes of Health ("NIH") cited a number of weaknesses in the protester's proposal, but had failed to raise those same weaknesses with the protester during discussions. NIH compounded this error by suggesting in discussions that the protester had adequately resolved a number of other problems also cited by the agency as a basis for the award decision, and the GAO recommended another round of discussions, offers, and a reevaluation.
Contacts
Insights
Client Alert | 2 min read | 11.14.25
Claim construction is a key stage of most patent litigations, where the court must decide the meaning of any disputed terms in the patent claims. Generally, claim terms are given their plain and ordinary meaning except under two circumstances: (1) when the patentee acts as its own lexicographer and sets out a definition for the term; and (2) when the patentee disavows the full scope of the term either in the specification or during prosecution. Thorner v. Sony Comput. Ent. Am. LLC, 669 F.3d 1362, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2012). The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Aortic Innovations LLC v. Edwards Lifesciences Corp. highlights that patentees can act as their own lexicographers through consistent, interchangeable usage of terms across the specification, effectively defining terms by implication.
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.14.25
Microplastics Update: Regulatory and Litigation Developments in 2025
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.13.25
