HealtheState, LLC v. United States, et al.

§ 411(b)(1)(A) of the Copyright Act preserves a registration containing inaccurate information unless the applicant included the information “with knowledge that it was inaccurate.” This Court has held that a good-faith mistake of law may excuse an inaccuracy and that willful blindness may establish knowledge. The first question presented is:

1. Whether “willful blindness,” when used to establish the statutory knowledge required by § 411(b)(1)(A), retains the two requirements this Court defined in Global-Tech Appliances, Inc. v. SEB S.A; subjective belief in a high probability of the relevant legal inaccuracy and deliberate action to avoid learning it. The Contract Disputes Act requires a contractor to submit a “claim” to a contracting officer, but it neither defines “claim” nor uses the phrase “sum certain.” The Federal Acquisition Regulation adds a “sum certain” requirement; the Federal Circuit treats that regulatory phrase as a mandatory prerequisite to relief. The second question presented is:

2. Whether the Contract Disputes Act authorizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation’s “sum certain” requirement as a mandatory prerequisite to a contractor’s monetary claim.