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Challenge To OCI Waiver Falls Short

Client Alert | 1 min read | 09.09.10

In MCR Fed., LLC (Aug. 17, 2010) GAO denied the protester's challenge to the agency's decision, in the context of taking corrective action, to waive organizational conflicts of interest for two offerors to facilitate competition, noting that, "[w]here a procurement decision -- such as whether an OCI should be waived -- is committed by statute or regulation to the discretion of agency officials, our Office will not make an independent determination of the matter." GAO found that the agency complied with FAR 9.503, including approval by the agency head's designee and a written determination setting forth (i) the extent of the conflict and (ii) explanation for why application of the OCI rules would not be in the government's interests in the particular procurement.

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Client Alert | 10 min read | 03.19.26

Emotional Perception Redefines AI Patents: The UK Supreme Court’s Groundbreaking Shift in Computer-Implemented Inventions

[1] In a recent development, the UK Supreme Court ruled that Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are not excluded from patentability due to being a computer program “as such.” In doing so, the Court set out the framework of a new test for the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to use when evaluating the patentability of computer. The ruling breaks down barriers to the patenting of AI algorithms in the UK and paves the way for a wider change in the UK IPO’s approach to assessing excluded subject matter....