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Foreign Governments Join the Commercial Item Party

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 05.20.19

On May 9, 2019, the FAR Council issued a proposed rule, which would amend the “nondevelopmental item” prong of the commercial item definition to include competitive sales to “multiple foreign governments” (in addition to sales to state and local governments, which the definition already includes). Comments on the proposed rule, which implements Section 847 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, are due July 9, 2019.

Insights

Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.26.25

From ‘Second’ to ‘First:’ Federal Circuit Tackles Obvious Claim Errors

Patent claims must be clear and definite, as they set the boundaries of the patentee’s rights. Occasionally, however, claim language contains errors, such as typographical mistakes or incorrect numbering. Courts possess very limited authority to correct such errors. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has emphasized that judicial correction is appropriate only in rare circumstances, where (1) the error is evident from the face of the patent, and (2) the proposed correction is the sole reasonable interpretation in view of the claim language, specification, and prosecution history. See Group One, Ltd. v. Hallmark Cards, Inc., 407 F.3d 1297, 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2005) and Novo Indus., L.P. v. Micro Molds Corp., 350 F.3d 1348, 1357 (Fed. Cir. 2003)....