Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity
Awarded Limited / Sole Source Justification Posted
- Solicitation number
- ACQ-26-0640
- Agency
-
US Patent and Trademark Office
Department of Commerce
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
Opportunity facts
- Contract number
- NNG15SC65B-1333BJ26F00282008 Federal contract award
- Awardee
- Countertrade Products, Inc.
- NAICS code
- 541512 Computer Systems Design Services
- Place of performance
- Alexandria, Virginia 22314, United States
- Points of contact
Notice details come from SAM.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a civilian agency within the Department of Commerce, issued a Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity (JEFO) on January 20, 2026, to procure uninterrupted Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate services from Countretrade Products Inc. through a firm-fixed-price delivery order under NASA SEWP V contract vehicle NNG15SC65B. The procurement covers all upgrades, maintenance, and support for Entrust/Sectigo SSL certificates that expired on December 31, 2025, supporting approximately 400 certificates across public-facing services, internal systems, and critical infrastructure. The USPTO justified the sole source award under FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i) based on urgency, citing critical operational and security risks that would result from service degradation, security non-compliance, and the inability to complete transition and testing cycles within required timeframes if continuity were interrupted. The action is limited in scope and duration to a minimum one-year extension through December 31, 2026, with the contract value redacted in the publicly available documentation. The USPTO issued a Verbal Authorization to Proceed on January 9, 2026, for the Sectigo portion and plans to award a follow-on delivery order incorporating the Entrust portion through a subsequent modification.
Notice text
The USPTO requires uninterrupted SSL certificate services during the transitioning phase to maintain availability, integrity, and confidentiality of enterprise network traffic and public-facing applications that support mission operations. Any lapse or delay in certificate issuance, renewal, or management would pose immediate risks to system availability, user access, and data security.
To prevent service degradation and security non-compliance, continuity must be maintained without interruption while the new certificates are fully transitioned and operational.
Awarded contract NNG15SC65B to unknown vendor for unknown amount on 2026-01-16.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| 1333BJ26F00282008 JEFO_Signed-redacted_Redacted.pdf |
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