The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska (“Tribe”) is seeking proposals from qualified, responsible, licensed attorneys/firms for legal services related to trademark issues affecting the Tribe.
SCOPE OF SERVICES
The attorney/firm will provide legal counsel to the Tribe related to trademark issues and potentially other intellectual property (“IP”) issues, including, but not limited to:
- Advise and consult on trademark-related legal issues that affect the Tribe, including protection of historical and cultural names.
- Determine the ability of the Tribe to trademark various historical and cultural names.
- Apply for and maintain trademark registrations for various trademarks currently used by the Tribe’s economic enterprises and conduct appropriate trademark and trade name searches as needed.
- Attend Tribal Council meetings as necessary to provide advice on and discuss matters relating to trademark-related issues that may affect the Tribe.
- Assist the Tribe in resolving, to the greatest extent possible to the benefit of the Tribe, trademark and potentially other IP-related issues affecting the Tribe.
- Represent the Tribe in trademark and other IP-related court and administrative proceedings, if any arise, including not only matters related to trademark infringement but also matters relating to protecting the Tribe’s trade secrets and other confidential information.
- Provide all other services usually and customarily necessary and required of a full service trademark/IP counsel, whether specifically outlined in the scope of services or not.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience and expertise in laws and matters relating to trademark and other IP matters, including matters of public domain, historic names and figures, and particular issues related to Indian tribes and protection of cultural patrimony.
- Experience and expertise in trademark searches and registering trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”).
- Experience working with USPTO examining attorneys.
- Registration to practice before the USPTO.
REQUIRED INFORMATION WITHIN PROPOSAL
- Name and address of firm/attorney.
- Name and telephone number of person or persons responsible for the response who may be contacted in the event of questions or notification.
- Firm history and qualifications.
- A specific description of your firm’s qualifications and experience related to the items identified in this RFP, including serving as IP counsel with public entities generally and Indian nations specifically.
- Experience of the firm with trademark registration and other IP-related matters, including protection of historical and cultural names.
- Identify the resources available within the firm to provide required technical information and work related to the items identified in this RFP.
- Ability of the firm to evaluate legal issues, prepare documents, and complete assigned tasks in a timely manner.
- Other information which you feel would be of assistance in evaluating your firm’s ability to serve as special counsel for the matters identified in this RFP.
- Name and resume, including relevant experience and credentials, of attorney(s) that would be assigned to and/or primarily responsible for the work.
- Names and resumes, including relevant experience and credentials, of other attorneys who will assist the primary attorney.
- A description of any arrangement or representation, formal or informal, that your firm has with any party that could potentially conflict with your obligation to provide independent and unbiased advice and recommendations to the Tribe for the matters identified in this RFP.
- Disclosure of any other potential conflicts of interest, including representation of clients in opposition to or contrary to the interests of Indian tribes, particularly with respect to matters within the scope of work of this RFP.
- A description of any litigation, administrative proceeding, or investigations (actual or pending, or which has occurred in the last five years) in which the firm, or any attorney with the firm, is involved or to which it is subject, or of which the Tribe should be aware in evaluating the firm’s capacity to undertake this engagement.
- Names and telephone numbers of at least three (3) references that may be contacted by the Tribe for whom you have provided services similar to those described in this RFP with a brief description of the work performed.
- Confirmation whether your firm currently carries professional liability insurance.
- Proposed fees and costs, which should include information on the hourly billing rates of each attorney or other legal staff who is expected to work on this representation and charges for expenses, if any, such as traveling rate, legal research, copies, long distance telephone calls, and faxes as well as timekeeping and invoicing practices.
- The signature of a responsible official having the authority to bind the responder to the execution of a contract.
EVALUATION
The evaluation of the proposal will be based on the following areas:
Past working experience with Indian tribes
Knowledge & working experience with similar matters described in this RFP
Fee structure/costs, including reasonableness
Qualifications of personnel
Accessibility of key personnel to the Tribe’s staff during engagement
Quality and Responsiveness of RFP
Ability to Execute
Any contract will be awarded to the lowest and most responsible responder that is the most advantageous to the Tribe as determined by the Tribe.
INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
The selected individual or firm shall be required to maintain professional liability/malpractice insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, and other insurance required by applicable law.
COMPENSATION
The Tribe intends to execute a Contract which provides set fees for each position providing services and expenses for specific items subject to charge or reimbursement. Such fees and expenses shall be set in the Contract and not subject to increase without written agreement or approval of the Tribe.
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
The Tribe will receive proposals until 1:00 CST, January 11, 2022. Proposals must be in PDF format, submitted to:christinem@poncatribe-ne.org. No late submissions will be accepted.
GENERAL INFORMATION
The Tribe reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to waive all informalities and minor irregularities in receiving proposals.
The Tribe reserves the right to reject all firms, to select multiple firms for various aspects of the proposed work, to select a firm for only some of the proposed work, or some other arrangement.
The Tribe reserves the right to cancel, amend, modify, or otherwise change this RFP at any time if it deems it to be in the best interests of the Tribe.
The Tribe reserves the right to accept, reject, or negotiate specifics of any proposal. A proposal response does not constitute a binding contract, such contract to be separately entered into by the selected party and the Tribe.
No additions or changes to any proposal will be allowed after the proposal due date unless such modification is specifically requested by the Tribe.
All material submitted regarding this RFP shall become property of the Tribe and will not be returned to the responder. The Tribe has no obligation to return any proposals received in response to this RFP.
All costs incurred in the preparation and transmittal of a proposal responding to this RFP will be the responsibility of the responder and will not be reimbursed by Tribe.
The Tribe does not guarantee any work or billable hours.
Any fees/price offerings from responders must be valid for a period of 30-days from the due date of the proposals.
By submitting a proposal in response to this RFP, the responder understands and agrees that the Tribe does not waive, alter, or otherwise diminish its sovereign rights, including immunities, whether expressed or implied, by virtue of this RFQ or the evaluation process.