Link: GAO Opinion
Agency: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Disposition: Protest denied.
Keywords: Brand name or equal
General Counsel P.C. Highlight: When a solicitation contains a brand name or equal purchase description, the FAR requires that it include a “general description of those salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics of the brand name item.” These particular items are considered essential or material to the government’s needs and a quotation must demonstrate that the product conforms to the characteristics listed.
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a request for quotations (RFQ) for scent transfer units, which are used to collect scent evidence at a crime scene. The RFQ specified that the units must be a “brand name or equal” to STU-100 units, which it uses currently. The RFQ also set out six features that a product must have to qualify as an equal to the brand name product, including a requirement that it be capable of being plugged into a 12-volt power outlet.
PB Ventures, Inc. (PBV) makes a competitive product know as the Advanced Scent Transfer Unit (ASTU). Although the ASTU differs from the STU-100, the contracting officer for the FBI stated that he would accept PBV’s bid response provided that it included detailed specifications to demonstrate how the ASTU was equal to the STU-100. The FBI eventually rejected the ASTU since it was not electrically-powered and used inert gas instead.
GAO stated that when a solicitation contains a brand name or equal purchase description, the FAR requires that it include a “general description of those salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics of the brand name item.” These particular items are considered essential or material to the government’s needs and a quotation must demonstrate that the product conforms to the characteristics listed.
GAO stated that PBV was required to demonstrate that the ASTU was a scent transfer unit and that it had all the technical features set forth in the brand name description. The fact that the ASTU does not conform to the stated technical requirement that the offered product be capable of being plugged into a 12-volt power outlet, among others, renders PBV’s quotation technically unacceptable. The protest is denied.