Clarity Needed for Intellectual Property Rights - GSA Schedules

Issue: Intellectual property rights as currently set forth in GSA Schedule contracts are unclear, cumbersome and unduly burdensome for contractors.

The End User License Agreement (EULA) requirements remain unclear in IT Schedule 70. As such, each license agreement must be reviewed by the contracting officer and legal counsel.

Recommendation: A basic set of terms should be developed that identify the key requirements that the contractor must agree to in order to comply with federal law. Alternatively, the IT Schedule 70 could include language stating that in the event of a conflict between federal law and the applicable license agreement, federal law controls. For example, IT Schedule contracts could include the following:

The parties acknowledge and agree that this Contract and any orders hereunder are subject to certain federal laws and regulations. Notwithstanding any clause to the contrary in any license agreement attached or appended to any order under this Contract, to the extent any clauses in the attached license agreement conflict with federal law or regulation or the terms of this Contract, such clauses shall not be given effect. The parties agree to review and negotiate the license clauses in good faith to the extent necessary to ensure compliance with applicable law and regulation.

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1. Reporting and Compliance

Campaign 1: Reporting and compliance requirements - Currently, the Federal Government requires businesses to fill out a lot of complicated paperwork to do business with us. We know we can do better. We want to know what you are seeing – where can we reengineer paperwork and systems, eliminate duplicative reporting, reduce the frequency of reporting, and/or change outdated requirements? Please help us with our improvements by providing ideas and input on the following questions:

Question 1: What reporting or other compliance requirements are most burdensome and why?

Question 2: How would you streamline reporting and compliance requirements? (please cite or describe specific examples if you can)

Question 3: What other compliance information are you providing to the federal government outside the procurement process that could be used to reduce duplication?

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Expired on 05/05/2014
2. Procurement Rules and Practices

Campaign 2: Procurement rules and practices - We know entities doing business in the private sector have best practices and we’re anxious to learn about and replicate in the Federal Government wherever possible. We want to hear about innovative approaches to contracting that align with your business practices.

Question 1: What are the most effective ways to encourage innovative offers and best solutions?

Question 2: How can we reduce the cost of transactions for contractors?

Question 3: What are the best ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of acquisitions for information technology?

Question 4: What procurement rules or practices are most effective and which are least effective and why?

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Expired on 05/05/2014
3. Small Business Participation

Campaign 3: Participation by small and minority businesses and non-traditional government contractors - We know many businesses lack the resources and expertise to participate in the Federal marketplace. We welcome feedback – especially by entities that are not participating in Federal contracting – to understand what steps we can take to make your participation possible.

We welcome feedback on how to increase participation in Federal contracting.

Question 1: How can we make doing business with the government easier and less costly for small businesses, minority businesses, new entrants, and non-traditional government contractors?

Question 2: If you are a small business, minority owned business, or new entrant, what features of the federal acquisition system are most helpful and which are least helpful to you?

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