Potential OCI Short-Circuits Sole-Source Award
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 01.17.08
In Superlative Technologies, Inc. (Jan. 4, 2008, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/310489.pdf), GAO held improper the cancellation of a solicitation by DOJ due to potential Procurement Integrity Act (PIA) and organizational conflict of interest unfair competitive advantage problems when DOJ turned around and awarded a sole-source contract for the same work to a contractor using as a subcontractor the company with the PIA/OCI problem. GAO recommended that DOJ reopen the competition and follow the procurement integrity and OCI regulations to determine the scope of the problem and whether any offerors should be disqualified or other corrective actions should be required.
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
