"Certain" Means No Weasel Words
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 09.30.05
The Contract Disputes Act requires a contractor to specify a "sum certain" that it claims. The contractor in Sandoval Plumbing Repair, Inc. (ASBCA Sept. 14, 2005), specified a dollar amount but learned that by adding words such as "no less than" or "in excess of" before a specified amount makes the claim "uncertain" and requires dismissal.
Insights
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Design patents offer protection for the ornamental appearance of a product, focusing on aspects like its shape and surface decoration, as opposed to the functional aspects protected by utility patents. The scope of a design patent is defined by the drawings and any descriptive language within the patent itself. Recent decisions by the Federal Circuit emphasize the need for clarity in the prosecution history of a design patent in order to preserve desired scope to preserve intentional narrowing (and to avoid unintentional sacrifice of desired claim scope).
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
Client Alert | 4 min read | 11.18.25
DOJ Announces Major Enforcement Actions Targeting North Korean Remote IT Worker Schemes
