The Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University is seeking proposals from a qualified law firm or multiple law firms to provide to the University system and its three campuses professional legal services for the evaluation, preparation and filing of patent and trademark applications and miscellaneous intellectual property matters. Other services include copyright work, competent legal counsel and advocacy in negotiating and drafting licensing agreements and advocating intellectual property related interests. These services are needed for the period of acceptance of the bid through June 30, 2023 with a one-time five-year renewal option, at the sole discretion of the University, based upon satisfactory performance, continuing need and availability of funds. Since the University conducts research in a broad variety of scientific disciplines, the University will consider retaining law firms with demonstrated expertise in a specific scientific discipline.

Registration for conducting business with the State of Illinois: (30 ILCS 500/20-43) Sec. 20-43. Bidder or offeror authorized to do business in Illinois. In addition to meeting any other requirement of law or rule, a person (other than an individual acting as a sole proprietor) may qualify as a bidder or offeror under this Code only if the person is a legal entity authorized to do business in Illinois prior to submitting the bid, offer, or proposal. The legal entity must be authorized to transact business or conduct affairs in Illinois prior to execution of the contract. Do not confuse this requirement with the Board of Elections certification. You may register to do business at http://cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/business_services/howdoi.html

If you do $50,000 worth of business annually with the State of Illinois, including the state universities, you are required to register with the State Board of Elections and obtain from them a certificate confirming your registration. If it is discovered that the vendor is non-compliant, but made a good faith effort to comply with registration efforts prior to the date the bid or offer is due, a chief procurement officer may provide the bidder 5 business days to achieve compliance. A chief procurement officer may extend the time to prove compliance by as long as necessary in the event that there is a failure within the State Board of Elections' registration system. Responses to Invitations to Bid, Requests for Proposals, Requests for Information, and all other types of procurement solicitations are included in the calculation of this $50,000 annual amount, whether you receive a resulting award or not. If you do less than $50,000 worth of business annually, you may be exempt from the registration requirement.

Effective January 1, 2011 communications regarding the specifications of this solicitation, which are not given in a public forum, are subject to public reporting. Questions regarding where the bid is to be mailed, the date and time of the opening or how to obtain a copy of the solicitation or any other procedural question will not need to be reported. The disclosure of the inquiries that need to be reported will include the name, address, phone number and email address of the person and firm making the inquiry. The reporting of this information will be published on the Procurement Policy Board website: https://www.illinois.gov/ppb/Pages/procurement-communications-reporting.aspx

Please include your Illinois Procurement Gateway registration number. If you are not registered, it is highly recommended that you do so. You may register at https://ipg.vendorreg.com. You do not have to be registered at the time of bid opening to be in compliance.

Submit 6 copies of the response as defined in the specifications.
The University reserves the right to accept or reject any and all responses or parts thereof.
This procurement may be contingent on Board of Trustees approval.
Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) eligibility number is required on all proposals, if applicable.
There is no BEP goal for this procurement.
The contract(s) for this solicitation could exceed $50,000 annually.