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Unequal Price Discussions Sink Award

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 02.06.06

In Sytronics, Inc. (Dec. 29, 2005, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/297346.pdf), GAO held that a discussion question to the awardee labeling the proposed price as “excessive” sent a stronger message than one to the protester labeling its proposed price as “high.” Prejudice occurred because, for its final proposal revision, the awardee reduced its already-lower proposed price by a greater percentage than the protester, which allowed it to prevail in a cost-technical tradeoff despite the protester's superior technical proposal.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 07.10.26

Federal Circuit Clarifies Application of Blue & Gold: Proposal Submission Deadline, Not Award, is the Operative Time for Filing

In Utech, Inc. v. United States, No. 24-1586 (Fed. Cir. June 24, 2026), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit clarified that in most cases, a pre-award protest must be filed before the proposal submission deadline to avoid the Blue & Gold waiver rule.  This decision, while nonprecedential, is in line with U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) precedent, which has long held that pre-award protests must be filed before the proposal submission deadline....