1. Home
  2. |Insights
  3. |ASBCA Delivers Bad News to Contractor Who Violated SBA’s Nonmanufacturer Rule

ASBCA Delivers Bad News to Contractor Who Violated SBA’s Nonmanufacturer Rule

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 05.27.16

In Third Coast Fresh Distrib., LLC (Apr. 6, 2016), the ASBCA held that a small business’ failure to comply with the requirements of the SBA’s Nonmanufacturer Rule justified its default under a small business set-aside contract for produce delivery. Rejecting the contractor’s argument that it was only required to represent in good faith that it would comply with the requirements, the Board held that the rule was a condition of performance and, by subcontracting out delivery of the produce, the contractor had changed its performance and had become “other than small” for the procurement, which constituted a default.

Insights

Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.26.25

From ‘Second’ to ‘First:’ Federal Circuit Tackles Obvious Claim Errors

Patent claims must be clear and definite, as they set the boundaries of the patentee’s rights. Occasionally, however, claim language contains errors, such as typographical mistakes or incorrect numbering. Courts possess very limited authority to correct such errors. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has emphasized that judicial correction is appropriate only in rare circumstances, where (1) the error is evident from the face of the patent, and (2) the proposed correction is the sole reasonable interpretation in view of the claim language, specification, and prosecution history. See Group One, Ltd. v. Hallmark Cards, Inc., 407 F.3d 1297, 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2005) and Novo Indus., L.P. v. Micro Molds Corp., 350 F.3d 1348, 1357 (Fed. Cir. 2003)....