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Equal Treatment Applies Even If Minimum Discussions Threshold Met

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 08.06.10

In AMEC Earth & Envtl., Inc. (Dec. 22, 2009), GAO sustained a protest of a contract award by the Coast Guard for construction services because the agency had engaged in unequal discussions. GAO concluded that, while FAR § 15.306 establishes that the agency must, at a minimum, address "significant weakness and deficiencies" during discussions, if the agency opts to conduct broader discussions than the minimum, it must do so in an equal fashion and may not rely on the minimum threshold in the FAR to excuse disparate treatment.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.06.25

Executive Branch Focus on Federally Funded Inventions

In recent months the executive branch has indicated a willingness to assert control over intellectual property funded by federal research dollars in novel ways. This could potentially include leveraging its march-in rights under the Bayh-Dole Act....