Practice Areas
Industry Experience
Mr. Bouquet’s work in the field of government contracts has involved many types of products and services in a wide range of industries.
Reflections on Government Contracts
Fall 2011
Supreme Court Issues Important Decision on Patent Rights of Government Contractors
In an opinion issued on June 6, 2011, the Supreme Court held that the Bayh-Dole Act (the "Act"), a key federal statute allocating patent rights under government contracts, does not automatically grant title to contractors in inventions made in the performance of their contract. Instead, to obtain title under the Act, contractors must first obtain from the inventor an assignment of his or her legal rights to the invention. The Court's decision in Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. is important because it clears up significant uncertainty about whether the Act has precedence over longstanding principles of U.S. patent law providing that rights in an invention belong to the individual inventor. It also highlights to contractors the importance of obtaining from all employees involved in creative processes an effective, current assignment of their rights, title and interest in inventions resulting from their employment.
Federal Circuit Affirms Right of Contractors to File Judicial Challenges to Negative Performance Evaluations
On August 29, 2011, the Federal Circuit affirmed the right of contractors to file judicial challenges against negative performance evaluations. The case, Todd Construction, L.P. v. United States, arose after a government engineer rated as "unsatisfactory" a construction contractor's performance on two projects, largely due to significant delays in completion of the projects. The central issue in the case was whether the courts had jurisdiction to hear the contractor's appeal of the Contracting Officer's ("CO's") final decision affirming the engineer's evaluation.
Contracting Officers Fail to Discharge Duty to Exercise Independent Judgment
In recent industry meetings and articles, members of the government contracting community have been discussing certain difficulties associated with the discharge of the CO's legal duty to exercise independent judgment in the administration of contracts. The regulations and the case law require the CO to "put his own mind to the problems and render his own decisions". However, in today's environment the CO tends to simply "rubber stamp" the recommendations of his legal, accounting and technical advisors.
Biography
Chris Bouquet is an experienced businessman and government contracts lawyer. After college, he spent 11 years as a businessman, first serving as Assistant to the President of a company in Salem, Virginia and later as a Project Manager and Director of Government Operations for a government contractor in McLean, Virginia. While serving as a government contractor, he attended night school and received MBA and JD degrees. After law school, he served for nearly 14 years as a government contracts lawyer in McKenna Long & Aldridge's (MLA’s) Washington, DC office and as a pro bono lawyer for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. In 2008, he opened his own law practice in Alexandria, Virginia, so that he could be closer to home, church and community and offer existing and new clients more cost effective access to his expertise. Throughout Mr. Bouquet’s career, he has been devoted to understanding his clients’ needs and providing leadership to develop and implement effective strategies to meet these needs.