The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed an Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) denial of summary judgment and held that a federal contractor may include certain restrictive markings on “unlimited rights” data supplied to the U.S. government.

Boeing entered into two contracts with the U.S. Air Force that required Boeing to deliver technical data to the Air Force with “unlimited rights” pursuant to Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 252.227-7013 (-7013 clause).

Boeing marked each technical data deliverable submitted to the Air Force with a legend that described Boeing’s data rights pertaining to third parties. The government rejected Boeing’s technical data deliverables in view of the legend Boeing placed on the data, and Boeing requested a Contracting Officer Final Decision (COFD) regarding the propriety of its marking. The Air Force issued a COFD for each contract, confirming the rejection of technical data marked with Boeing’s legend as a nonconforming marking because it was not in the authorized format pursuant to paragraph (f) of the -7013 clause (Subsection 7013(f)).

Keep reading this article at: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/government-contractors-may-include-restrictive-markings-unlimited-rights-data

Read the Court of Appeals decision here: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/cafc/19-2147/19-2147-2020-12-21.html