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Offerors Beware: Exceptions to Data Rights Requirements May Prove Fatal

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 02.03.16

In Deloitte Consulting, LLP (released Jan. 14, 2016), GAO held that, because the awardee’s proposal had taken exception to a solicitation provision that granted the government broader rights in materials (including software source code) than the rights conveyed by the FAR's standard data rights clause, it was unacceptable. This case serves as a reminder that the time for objecting to solicitation provisions, including those relating to technical data and computer software rights, is prior to proposal submission.

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Client Alert | 2 min read | 12.19.25

GAO Cautions Agencies—Over-Redact at Your Own Peril

Bid protest practitioners in recent years have witnessed agencies’ increasing efforts to limit the production of documents and information in response to Government Accountability Office (GAO) bid protests—often will little pushback from GAO. This practice has underscored the notable difference in the scope of bid protest records before GAO versus the Court of Federal Claims. However, in Tiger Natural Gas, Inc., B-423744, Dec. 10, 2025, 2025 CPD ¶ __, GAO made clear that there are limits to the scope of redactions, and GAO will sustain a protest where there is insufficient evidence that the agency’s actions were reasonable....