R498-- Patent Legal Services

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QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS FOR PATENT LEGAL SERVICES 36C24E23R0009

The instructions note a 30-page limit for the Technical Proposal. Are all the completed individual Legal Services Practitioner Data forms and the Legal Services Law Firm Data form excluded from the 30-page limit? Do you want the completed forms to be submitted as part of the Technical Proposal as an appendix or would you like them to be a separate document?

ANSWER: The Technical Proposal must not exceed thirty (30) pages inclusive of the cover pages, table of contents, narrative, and glossary. We are removing the additional fifteen (15) page limit for the appendices for the addition of staff qualification statements. The completed individual Legal Services Practitioner Data forms and the Legal Services Law Firm Data form questions and answers should be added as an appendix. The appendices no longer have a page limit per this amendment.

Are links to full personnel bios sufficient? The information requested in the individual Legal Services Practitioner Data forms covers all content beyond what is on our bios. We plan on providing a roster of proposed personnel as part of the Technical Proposal.

ANSWER: Yes

Does page 1 in the SOLICITATION/CONTRACT/ORDER FOR COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL SERVICES need to be completed with our submission and if so, does it count towards the Technical Proposal 30-page limit?

ANSWER: Please complete blocks 17a and 30a-30c on page one and return with your proposal along with all signed amendments. This will not count toward the 30-page limit. The 30-page limit is just for Part I Technical.

Does the E11 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Dec 2022) section need to be included in our Technical Proposal starting on page 78 in section (C)? If so, does it count towards the 30-page limit in the Technical Proposal?

ANSWER: The Offeror shall complete only paragraph (b) of this provision if the Offeror has completed the annual representations and certification electronically in the System for Award Management (SAM) accessed through https://www.sam.gov. If the Offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically, the Offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through (v) of this provision.

This will not count toward the 30-page limit. Please include this in Part III - Veteran-Owned Business Utilization. The 30-page limit is just for Part I Technical.

The Solicitation mentions that each Offeror shall ensure that its proposed pricing is fully burdened and inclusive of all required tasks as outlined below ... (see Page 6). However, Section B.3 PRICE/COST SCHEDULE guidance (see also Page 74) seems limited to capturing only hourly rates (including firm overhead/employee benefits, per Page 29) for legal and support tasks by individuals. Can you confirm that, rather than fully burdening those hourly rates, the following costs/expenses are *not* expected to be reflected in an Offeror s completed PRICE/COST SCHEDULE tables: pass-through costs (e.g., patent office fees, per Pages 7 and 29); attorneys in foreign jurisdictions engaged for foreign filings (per Pages 6 and 29); subcontracted non-legal services (see Page 26), such as professional drafting and art searches.

ANSWER: The patent office costs and fees should not be reflected in the price/cost schedule hourly rates. PRICE/COST SCHEDULE should be limited to hourly rates for employee categories as defined on page 26. The costs and fees will need to be explained and detailed in the submitted invoices.

Without disclosing any proprietary and/or contractor sensitive information, can you share how many incumbent intellectual property (IP) law firms were engaged to support the predecessor contract supporting the more than 3000 employee invention disclosures within the past 5 years (see Page 5).

ANSWER: One

Can you share in which foreign jurisdictions (national stage entries) did your incumbent intellectual property (IP) law firms seek patent protection while supporting the predecessor contract supporting the more than 3000 employee invention disclosures within the past 5 years (see Page 5).

ANSWER: No

The period of performance (POP) from Page 6 refers to Base Period: 07/24/2023 07/23/2028 Option Year 1: 07/24/2028 07/23/2033 (see similar POP under ORDERING on Page 44); however, Page 30 relates (t)he Period of Performance is a base of Five (5) years (04/24/2023 04/23/2028) and one Five (5) Year Option Period (04/24/2028 04/23/2033). Please reconcile. (Also, please correct the entry for Item Number 4008 that shows POP End: 04-23-2027 )

ANSWER: To clarify the Period of Performance (POP) for this requirement is a base period of Five (5) years (04/24/2023 04/23/2028) with one Five (5) Year Option Period (04/24/2028 04/23/2033). The Statement of Work, Section B.2, para. 1.4 POP, p. 6 is corrected from Option Year 1 to Option Period . The Price/Cost Schedule, sec. B.3, p. 36, line item 4008 POP end date is corrected from 04-23-2027 to 04/23/2028 . There is no change to Clause 52.216-18 Ordering. Orders may be issued from 07/24/2023 through 07/23/2033.

Please confirm all offers must be submitted NLT May 8, 2023, by 3pm EST (per Page 1 (SF 1449) and Pages 65 and 74).

ANSWER: All offers must be submitted NLT May 8, 2023, by 3pm EST as stated on Page 1 and on page 74. Also please see amendment 0001 which clarified the due date.

Where should the Practitioner Data Form Questionnaires be included in the proposal? Are these Questionnaires part of the 30-page limit of the Technical Proposal section?

ANSWER: The Practitioner Data Form Questionnaires and answers should be included with Part I Technical as an appendix. There is no longer a page limitation for the appendices.

Page 64 of the packet describes an appendix of "staff qualification statements" that cannot exceed 15 pages. We wanted to confirm that these statements are different than the Practitioner Data Form Questionnaires.

ANSWER: These terms refer to the same thing, the practitioner data form questionnaires. There is no longer a 15-page limit for the appendices.

Section C has a listing of various clauses. Some of these ask for additional information (e.g., clause C9 asks for additional information and C14 asks for a signed certification). Where in the response should the additional information requested in the clauses, or the signed certification be included? Should the clauses be repeated verbatim somewhere in the response? The response sections are: 1) Technical, 2) Past Performance, 3) Veteran Owned Business Utilization, and 4) Price and we would like to know where within this structure the information concerning section C should be placed.

ANSWER: C.9 VAAR 852.208-70 should be included in Part III - Veteran-Owned Business Utilization. C.14 852.219-75 should be included in Part III - Veteran-Owned Business Utilization.

Section E11 has Offeror Representations and Certifications. Where does our responses to section E11 belong in our proposal? The response sections are 1) Technical, 2) Past Performance, 3) Veteran Owned Business Utilization, and 4) Price and we would like to know where within this structure our response to section E11 should be placed.

ANSWER: E.11 should be included in Part III - Veteran-Owned Business Utilization

We wanted to confirm that the only page limits are for the Technical Proposal section and appendix (30 pages and 15 pages, respectively). The remaining sections (Past performance, Veteran Owned Business Certification, and Price) as well as the total proposal (for all sections) have no apparent page limits.

ANSWER: Only Part I Technical has a 30-page limit requirement. This amendment is removing the 15-page limit for the appendices. The remaining sections (Past performance, Veteran Owned Business Certification, and Price) as well as the total proposal (for all sections) have no apparent page limits.

For the Price proposal, should this section ONLY include the filled-in section B.3? Or are you looking for additional information?

ANSWER: Yes, the price proposal only needs to include the filled-in section in B.3. No additional information is required.

Note: The answer to the question referencing subcontracting will be answered in a separate amendment at a later date.

Patent Legal Services