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Government Relief From COVID-19 Impacts on Federal Contracts and Grants

Client Alert | 2 min read | 03.23.20

In the last several days, the federal government released a number of guidance documents designed to ease the impacts of COVID-19 on government contractors and grantees.  The guidance is summarized below:

Contractors:

  • DoD Progress Payments Increase to 90% for Large Businesses and 95% for Small Businesses under DFARS Clause.  On March 20, DoD issued guidance that raises the progress payment recovery rate from 80% to 90% for large businesses, and from 90% to 95% for small businesses.  The DoD memorandum requires Defense contracting officers to immediately use deviations for DFARS 252.232-7004 (DoD Progress Payment Rates) and FAR 52.232-16 (Progress Payments) permitting for these larger percentage progress payments.  Contractors should encourage Contracting Officers to amend their current contracts with these revised clauses in order to take advantage of these increases.
  • DoD Permits Maximum Telework Flexibility for Contractors.  On March 20, DoD issued guidance to Defense contracting officers to provide maximum telework flexibility for contractors.  Contracting officers should work with program managers and requirements owners to permit flexibility in a contractor’s place of performance without mission degradation.

USAID Awardees:

  • Crowell & Moring has published a blog post discussing extensive COVID-related guidance specifically for USAID.

OMB Guidance for Contractors and Federal Grant Recipients:

The entire Crowell team is standing ready to assist affected contractors and federal award recipients impacted by COVID-19.  We wish you continued good health.

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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)....