DoD Agrees To Improve How It Approaches Intellectual Property Under Government Contracts
Client Alert | 1 min read | 12.08.21
In Section 839 of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress directed the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) to prepare a report evaluating the implementation of Department of Defense (“DoD”) Instruction 5010.44 relating to Intellectual Property Acquisition and Licensing, including but not limited to, DoD’s establishment of a cadre of intellectual property (“IP”) experts previously directed by Congress. On November 30, 2021, GAO issued a final report to Congress entitled “DOD Should Take Additional Actions to Improve How It Approaches Intellectual Property” (“Report”). The Report made four recommendations: (1) DoD’s planned guidebook on IP (currently expected to be published in the first quarter of 2022) should clarify how DoD personnel can pursue detailed manufacturing or process data; (2) DoD should determine the collaboration, staffing, and resources needed to execute DoD’s proposed approach for the IP Cadre; (3) the Director of the IP Cadre should collaborate with the President of Defense Acquisition University (“DAU”) to prioritize IP-related tasks that DAU should undertake between 2023 through 2025; and (4) the Director of the IP Cadre should develop additional guidance to help identify the DoD personnel in key career fields that would benefit most from receiving IP training and credentials. In response to a draft of the Report, DoD concurred with each of these recommendations.
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Client Alert | 5 min read | 12.12.25
Eleventh Circuit Hears Argument on False Claims Act Qui Tam Constitutionality
On the morning of December 12, 2025, the Eleventh Circuit heard argument in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, et al., No. 24-13581 (11th Cir. 2025). This case concerns the constitutionality of the False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam provisions and a groundbreaking September 2024 opinion in which the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida held that the FCA’s qui tam provisions were unconstitutional under Article II. See United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Fla. Med. Assocs., LLC, 751 F. Supp. 3d 1293 (M.D. Fla. 2024). That decision, penned by District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, was the first success story for a legal theory that has been gaining steam ever since Justices Thomas, Barrett, and Kavanaugh indicated they would be willing to consider arguments about the constitutionality of the qui tam provisions in U.S. ex rel. Polansky v. Exec. Health Res., 599 U.S. 419 (2023). In her opinion, Judge Mizelle held (1) qui tam relators are officers of the U.S. who must be appointed under the Appointments Clause; and (2) historical practice treating qui tam and similar relators as less than “officers” for constitutional purposes was not enough to save the qui tam provisions from the fundamental Article II infirmity the court identified. That ruling was appealed and, after full briefing, including by the government and a bevy of amici, the litigants stepped up to the plate this morning for oral argument.
Client Alert | 8 min read | 12.11.25
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