Notice of Intent to Award Sole Source to Octane5 International, LLC

Description

This acquisition is being conducted by the United States of the Marine Corps (USMC) Trademark Licensing Office (TMLO) The executing contracting office is Marine Corps Installations, National Capital Region, Regional Contracting Office (MCINCR-RCO) 2010 Henderson Road Quantico, VA 22134.

MCINCR-RCO will, in accordance with FAR 13.501(a)(1)(ii), award a contract on a sole source basis for a Licensing Lifecycle Management System in support of TMLO to Octane5 International, LLC. The intent of this action is to document the justification for restricting consideration to one vendor.

This requirement shall support the USMC TMLD with the following functional areas:

1. Licensing Application Workflow (LAW) module with public-facing portal, data capture, application review, integration with License Agreement Management (LAM), automated notifications, and inbox alert.
2. Digital Asset Management (DAM) module with centralized repository, robust access control system, and reporting and analytics capabilities.
3. Product and Artwork Approvals (PAA) module with customizable approval process, intuitive interface, communication tools, workflow routing, reporting, and notifications.
4. LAM and Analytical Report Generation module with workflow management, customization, data storage and display, and reporting and analytics capabilities
5. Royalty Management and Reporting (RMP) module with automated royalty reporting, error detection and review, obligation and invoice management, multi-currency support, royalty rate management, and inventory management.
6. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module with deal funnel feature and ability to track and monitor prospective licensee deals.
7. Product Authentication and Activation (security hangtags and labels) with security mark program development, electronic validation requirements, and key conditions.
8. Advanced Trace and Track Capability with marketplace tracking, real-time product validation, and mobile authentication
9. Mobilization accessibility (mobile app) with product approvals, artwork approvals, contract rights overview, track and trace, and hologram scanning capabilities
10. Security measures, including maintenance, upkeep, and customer support to be provided by the contractor.
11. Website Customer Service and Technical Support
12. Training (on-site and online training webinars) as required

Dates

Base Year 30-Sep-2025 to 29-Sep-2026

Option Year One (1) 30-Sep-2026 to 29-Sep-2027

Option Year Two (2) 30-Sep-2027 to 29-Sep-2028

Option Year Three (3) 30-Sep-2028 to 29-Sep-2029

Option Year Four (4) 30-Sep-2029 to 29-Sep-2030

Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition 15 U.S.C. 657f, addressed at FAR 13.501(a)(1)(i), allows a contracting officer to award a sole source contract.

This document meets the regulatory requirements at FAR 13.501(a)(2)(i)

(2)Justifications and approvals are required under this subpart for sole-source (including brand-name) acquisitions or portions of an acquisition requiring a brand-name. If the justification is to cover only the portion of the acquisition which is brand-name, then it should so state; the approval level requirements will then only apply to that portion.

(i)For a proposed contract exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, but not exceeding $750,000, the contracting officer’s certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer’s knowledge and belief will serve as approval, unless a higher approval level is established in accordance with agency procedures.

Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority.

The critical dependence on Octane5 International for essential business functions necessitates sole sourcing. Terminating this relationship would have severe repercussions, including the immediate loss of over 250+ licensee electronic records to include small and hobbyist. This loss translates directly into the disruption of established electronic workflows, forcing a reversion to inefficient and labor-intensive manual processes.  Specifically, royalty reporting screenings, analytical reporting, product authentication, and security tag/label activation would all require manual intervention.  Furthermore, the loss of mobile app capabilities and dedicated software technical support would severely hamper operational efficiency.  Conservatively estimated, this complete system outage would increase workloads by 100%, placing an untenable burden on resources and potentially jeopardizing business continuity. This will also include the retraining of 250+ licensees on a new royalty report and licensee agreement sustainment when agreements are due for renewal, causing mission degradation elsewhere while resources are allocated for this training.

In order to gauge market capabilities, the requiring activity submitted a Request for Information (RFI) #332999 to NASA SEWP on 16-Jan-2025, and despite certain vendors requesting more time to submit a quote and the RA extending the request by date to 1-Feb-2025, no responses were received through NASA SEWP.

The Beanstalk Group, LLC was identified as a potentially comparable vendor and contacted. It was determined that royalty reports are required to be provided to Beanstalk in order to be screened and validated for approval based on the licensing agreement. This turnaround can take seven or more business days and does not allow automation to provide real-time feedback on incorrect royalty reporting entries. It also does not allow the USMC TMLO to develop and build working relationships, which in turn delays the royalty reporting invoicing process, as approvals will need to be provided prior to invoicing. Beanstalk also utilizes their own law enforcement team, which removes TMLO’s licensing attorney from enforcing the licenses.