Recogniti, LLP

B-410658 Jan 21, 2015 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Recogniti, LLP, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, protests the issuance of a purchase order to Trea Technology Inc., of New York, New York, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 147P1401735, issued by the Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), for a replicable methodology for disambiguating and identifying unique PTO entities from patent and trademark owner and assignee records. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of: Recogniti, LLP File: B-410658 Date: January 21, 2015 George lanaki for the protester. Lisa J. Obayashi, Esq., Department of Commerce, for the agency. Gary R. Allen, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest that a contracting agency improperly evaluated the awardee’s past performance is denied where the record shows that the agency reasonably considered the past performance of the awardee’s founder, whom the awardee proposed as a key person to perform the contract services. 2. Protest challenging the issuance of a purchase order based on a vendor’s more highly-rated but higher-priced quotation is denied where the record shows that the agency’s evaluation of quotations and best-value tradeoff analysis were reasonable. DECISION Recogniti, LLP, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, protests the issuance of a purchase order to Trea Technology Inc., of New York, New York, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 147P1401735, issued by the Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), for a replicable methodology for disambiguating and identifying unique PTO entities from patent and trademark owner and assignee records.[1] We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFQ, issued as a combined synopsis/solicitation on August 21, 2014, was set aside for small business concerns, utilizing North American Industry Classification System Code 541690 (Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services). RFQ at 1. The RFQ explains that a major obstacle to conducting research with PTO patent and trademark data is the inherent difficulty in identifying ownership, because of names that are inconsistently recorded, alternatively abbreviated, misspelled, or inaccurately listed, among other things. The objective of this procurement is to acquire a means for removing the ambiguity concerning assignee data in order to provide researchers and other interested parties access to more complete and reliable data on patent and trademark ownership. Id. at 3. The solicitation lists four contract line item numbers (CLINs), identifying CLIN 1 as the “basic effort” and the remaining CLINs as option items. The RFQ announced the agency’s intention to initially award at least the basic effort CLIN.[2] RFQ at 4. The RFQ contemplated the issuance of one or more fixed-price purchase orders for the acquisition of a replicable methodology for resolving ambiguities from existing records and identifying unique PTO entities from patent and trademark owner and assignee records. The RFQ provided for the use of simplified acquisition procedures listed in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 13.106-2(b), and listed the following three evaluation factors: technical capability, past performance, and price. RFQ at 1. The RFQ also provided for the issuance of an initial purchase order(s) to one or more vendors whose quotations were the most advantageous to the government, price and other factors considered. Id. With respect to the technical capability factor, the RFQ instructed vendors to provide sufficient detail in their quotations to demonstrate their capability of performing the tasks identified in the statement of work. RFQ at 6. With regard to past performance, the RFQ provided past performance report forms to be completed and submitted by vendors’ references for each experience described in the technical capability portion of its quotation, showing similar type and complexity of PTO assignee disambiguation requirements. RFQ at 7. Ten vendors, including Recogniti and Trea, responded to the RFQ. Contracting Officer’s (CO) Statement (COS) at 3. Trea’s quotation price for CLIN 1 was $350,000 (with a total quotation price of $820,000), whereas Recogniti’s price for CLIN 1 was $179,250 (with a total of $299,000). Id. at 4. The government’s estimated value for CLIN 1 is $360,564. COS at 4; AR, Tab 11, Price Analysis Memo., at 1. The agency’s technical evaluation team (TET) initially evaluated each quotation as to technical capability and past performance. COS at 4. After receiving responses to clarification questions, the TET completed a final technical evaluation memorandum. AR, Tab 10, TET Eval. Memo. Under the technical capability factor, the TET found that Trea’s quotation provided a clear description of its methodology.