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Section 809 Panel Releases Volume 3 Report and Recommendations

Client Alert | 1 min read | 01.16.19

On January 15, the Section 809 Panel released the final installment of its three-volume report, this time including recommendations on, among other topics, bid protests, contractor accounting systems, and government-industry interactions. (The panel released Volume 1 in January 2018 and Volume 2 in June 2018).

The Volume 3 recommendations, if implemented, could have far-reaching effects. For example, the panel recommends eliminating certain bid protests, such as second bite at the apple Court of Federal Claims protests after earlier GAO protests; adopting a “professional practice guide” for DoD and those supporting DoD in its contract audits; and encouraging greater government “interaction with industry during market research.”

Keep an eye on our blog and podcasts in the coming weeks, as we will be providing further detailed analysis of the panel’s various recommendations.

Insights

Client Alert | 2 min read | 11.14.25

Defining Claim Terms by Implication: Lexicography Lessons from Aortic Innovations LLC v. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation

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....