You are negotiating the data rights section. The contracting officer (CO) insists on having unlimited rights to your technical data. Or the CO marked up your contract to require delivery of unlimited rights in software your company spent years and significant private investment developing. Or you are competing on a requirement and the agency is claiming it needs your proprietary data on repair to open the follow-on contract to other vendors.

These are not hypothetical scenarios. They are the situations small and mid-size defense contractors face with increasing frequency as agencies push for greater technical data access to support depot-level maintenance, production of spare parts, and right-to-repair initiatives driven by recent NDAA provisions. The contractors who fare best are the ones who built their data rights position into the original contract, not the ones scrambling to defend it years later.

Effectus advises contractors on the full spectrum of data rights issues arising under the FAR, DFARS, and agency-specific supplements. Our practice covers the DFARS 252.227-7013 and 252.227-7014 technical data and computer software regimes, government purpose rights and limited rights assertions, restrictive marking strategies and challenges, and the negotiation of data rights provisions in development contracts before award. We also counsel clients on the evolving right-to-repair landscape: what the current NDAA provisions actually require, what they do not, and how to structure contractor IP protections in sustainment agreements to withstand agency pressure.

We have advised on these issues from both sides of the table. That perspective matters when the government is your business partner or adverse party.