1. OVERVIEW The Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Office of Research and Development (R&D), Regional Procurement Office (RPO) East in Pittsburgh, PA intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Ballard Spahr, LLP. The requirement is for Ballard Spahr, LLP to provide the VA Technology Transfer Program (TTP), within the Office of Research and Development (ORD), with portfolio management and patent legal services. This action would be awarded as a follow-on contract. The result would be the Department of Veterans Affairs entering into a firm fixed price IDIQ contract with Ballard & Spahr LLP, an international law firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. The requirement is for one (1) contractor to provide patent legal services including but not limited to patent drafting, filing, prosecution, docketing, and maintenance for 5 years (base period with 4 option periods). The law firm must possess the capabilities to handle the sheer volume of the VA s patent portfolio. VA s patent portfolio is unusually large and complex because it originates from research and development performed at over 100 VA Medical Centers (ORD), each one a Federal Laboratory with its own goals and interests. The current Contractor (Ballard Spahr, LLP) is responsible for 977 different patent matters, of which 635 are actively managed. This includes a mix of US (662), Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) (119), and foreign cases (196), the latter of which require careful coordination with foreign counsel. This procurement is being conducted IAW FAR 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other services will satisfy agency requirements. This is because the Government asserts that awarding a follow-on contract to Ballard Spahr is critical to ensure the VA maintains continuity, thereby preventing a substantial duplication of cost and unacceptable delays to VA s technology transfer efforts. SCOPE OF WORK: VA requires that the contract awardee have the legal capability, training, and resources necessary to prosecute domestic, international, foreign regional and foreign national patent applications. The work under this contract will require patent preparation and patent prosecution in specific scientific and technical areas of interest to VA. Therefore, contractors must have scientific education or training in the scientific areas in which the contractor will be performing legal services for VA. Specifically, the contractor must have an attorney expert with Partner level experience to lead technical teams of PhD level scientific technical experts, junior attorneys and/or patent agents in, at least, the technical areas including, mechanical devices, computer software, computer engineering and electronics, medical devices, biological compounds/processes, chemical compounds/processes and medicinal chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and pharmacology. Refer to Section 2, Contractor Requirements and Tasks. Interested contractors must be able to meet all Requirements and Tasks. It is the responsibility of the interested contractor to adequately demonstrate to the Government within their capability statement that they can perform all Requirements and Tasks. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. However, any responsible source who believes it is capable of meeting the requirement may submit a capability statement and supporting documentation to the Contract Specialist no later than Friday, July 23, 2021, 4:00 PM, EST. Interest/capability statements may be sent by email to Mr. Robin Simmons at
[email protected]. No telephone responses will be accepted. A determination not to compete the proposed requirement based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.