Submission of Indirect Cost Rate Proposal Starts Six-Year Limitations Period
Client Alert | 1 min read | 02.01.17
In Sparton DeLeon Springs, LLC (ASBCA Dec. 28, 2016), the Board rejected a government claim for recoupment of alleged overpayments of direct costs as time-barred by the CDA’s six-year statute of limitations. The government alleged that it was not put on notice of the 2007 overpayment until 2014 when Sparton submitted its final voucher, which did not include the direct costs at issue. However, the Board held that the government "knew or should have known" the basis of its claim by 2008 when Sparton submitted its FY 2006 and 2007 indirect cost proposals. Those proposals disclosed direct costs that would be used to calculate indirect rates, but they did not include certain direct costs that the contractor had already invoiced and the government had already paid. Pre-discovery summary judgment was appropriate because "the government should [have] be[en] able to substantiate on its own” whether “interim vouchers contained [sufficient] supporting documentation."
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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).
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Brussels Court Clarifies the EU’s SPC Manufacturing Waiver Regulation Rules
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.24.25
