Equality For All - OMB Instructs Agencies To Ignore GAO And Give Equal Consideration To Three SBA Programs
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 07.23.09
On July 10, 2009, OMB instructed agencies to continue to adhere to the SBA's "parity" regulations despite two recent GAO decisions-Mission Critical Solutions, 2009 CPD ¶ 93, and Int'l Program Group, Inc., 2008 CPD ¶ 172-that required agencies to prioritize Historically Underutilized Business Zone ("HUBZone") small businesses over 8(a) Program participants and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses in satisfying the agencies' acquisition requirements. OMB explained that the GAO decisions were not binding and instead instructed agencies to consider multiple small business programs pursuant to their existing contracting practices and the SBA's "parity" policies.
Contacts
Insights
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
Microplastics Update: Regulatory and Litigation Developments in 2025
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.13.25
