Acquiring and Enforcing the Government's Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software Under Department of Defense Contracts

The ninth edition of this handbook, issued by the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Space and Missile Systems Center, United States Air Force, provides defense acquisition and sustainment professionals across the Department of Defense a detailed "cradle-to-grave" approach to acquiring technical data and computer software rights at each of the following stages:

• Drafting the Capability Development Document (CDD)
  
• Drafting the Acquisition Strategy and Life-Cycle Sustainment Plan
  
• Drafting each section of the Request for Proposals (RFP)
  
• Competitive or sole-source negotiations prior to award
  
• Post-award issues
  

This handbook also describes how to implement at each of those stages the statutory mandate that major defense acquisition programs that will receive Milestone A or Milestone B approval shall be designed and developed, to the maximum extent practicable, with a Modular Open System Approach (MOSA) to enable incremental development and enhance competition, innovation, and interoperability.