Mitigation Plan Doesn't Always Heal OCI
Client Alert | 1 min read | 01.18.06
In Alion Science & Technology Corp. (Jan. 9, 2006, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/297342.pdf), GAO found an impaired objectivity organizational conflict of interest in the award of a contract to provide electromagnetic spectrum engineering services to a manufacturer of electromagnetic spectrum-dependent products, because performance of the contract would involve many different kinds of subjective judgments that might affect the sale or use of such products of the contractor, its competitors, or its customers. A mitigation plan based upon assignment of all work involving such judgments to a subcontractor was rejected because it was based upon erroneous, understated assessments of the conflict potential presented by multiple tasks in the solicitation, and because the agency had not considered the impact on the technical evaluation scoring of a shift of so much of the work from the prime contractor to the subcontractor.
Insights
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Design patents offer protection for the ornamental appearance of a product, focusing on aspects like its shape and surface decoration, as opposed to the functional aspects protected by utility patents. The scope of a design patent is defined by the drawings and any descriptive language within the patent itself. Recent decisions by the Federal Circuit emphasize the need for clarity in the prosecution history of a design patent in order to preserve desired scope to preserve intentional narrowing (and to avoid unintentional sacrifice of desired claim scope).
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
Client Alert | 4 min read | 11.18.25
DOJ Announces Major Enforcement Actions Targeting North Korean Remote IT Worker Schemes
