Bad Estimates Support Constructive Change Without Proof of Government Negligence
Client Alert | 1 min read | 07.10.13
In IAP World Servs., Inc. v. Dep't of Treasury (June 20, 2013), the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals held the government liable when a maintenance contractor's service calls took longer to perform than calls in historical data furnished to prospective offerors and the government had said the historical data were a "reasonable basis" for firm-fixed-price proposals. Finding that the contractor had relied on the faulty data to price its proposal and that the contractor need not prove government negligence, the CBCA decided that the longer service calls were a constructive change to the contract and awarded the contractor its increased costs of performance.
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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
