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Inexact IDIQ Exercise = Constructive Change

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 06.04.09

In General Dynamics C4 Sys., Inc. (May 8, 2009), the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals converted timely delivery order exercises by the Navy into constructive changes because they were sent by e-mail, when the contract specified that electronic delivery was only authorized if specified in the schedule and it was not. Analogizing to option exercises, the board instructed that an IDIQ order must be issued fully in accord with the contract or it is ineffective.

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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)....