Co-written by Mr Frank K. Peterson
Federal procurement regulations contain detailed provisions about the protection of proprietary information. Contractors ignore those regulations at their peril, as many contractors have learned through bitter experience. A recent case issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Xerxe Group, Inc. v. United States, decided February 4, 2002, illustrates what can happen when an offeror fails to properly identify its proprietary information in an unsolicited proposal to a federal agency.
Xerxe Group, Inc. submitted an unsolicited proposal to Patrick Air Force Base for the provision of electrical energy and services. The proposal was rejected, but the Air Force later published a request for information for the possible privatization of on-base utility services. Xerxe cried foul, claiming that the government had used proprietary information from its unsolicited proposal in the request for information. When the government failed to
