48 CFR 15.608 : Federal Acquisition Regulations System (Section 1.000 To Parts 9906-9999) — Federal Acquisition Regulation (Parts 1 - 99) (Section 1.000 To Parts 54-99) — Contracting Methods And Contract Types (Parts 13 - 18) (Section 13.000 To Section 18.204) — Contracting By Negotiation (Section 15.000 To Section 15.609) — Unsolicited Proposals (Section 15.600 To Section 15.609) — Prohibitions.

(a) Government personnel shall not use any data, concept, idea, or other part of an unsolicited proposal as the basis, or part of the basis, for a solicitation or in negotiations with any other firm unless the offeror is notified of and agrees to the intended use. However, this prohibition does not preclude using any data, concept, or idea in the proposal that also is available from another source without restriction.

(b) Government personnel shall not disclose restrictively marked information (see 3.104 and 15.609) included in an unsolicited proposal. The disclosure of such information concerning trade secrets, processes, operations, style of work, apparatus, and other matters, except as authorized by law, may result in criminal penalties under 18 U.S.C. 1905.