GAO Sustains Protest Where Agency Fails to Properly Justify “Brand Name Only” Requirement

Koprince McCall Pottroff – When an agency restricts a solicitation to a single brand-name, the agency must appropriately justify its decision, even where the solicitation is competed among holders of a governmentwide acquisition contract. In a recent case, the GAO sustained a protest, holding that an agency violated the FAR by failing to properly justify its brand-name restriction.