CFC Finds Unreasonable Deviation from Customary Commercial Practices
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 10.26.11
In U.S. Foodservice, Inc. v. U.S., the Court of Federal Claims, while finding that the Army DLA Troop Support had demonstrated a rational basis for a number of provisions that deviated from standard commercial terms and conditions in the food service industry, nonetheless enjoined the procurement because the solicitation's Most Favored Customer clause, itself a deviation from customary commercial practices, was an "irrational and unreasonable attempt towards pursuing [DLA's] overall goals of increasing transparency and reducing fraud." The court explained that the MFC provision was overbroad and would force offerors to submit and certify a price that would include elements that are "completely untethered from ascertainable or predictable knowledge."
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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
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