AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
The Intellectual Property Office awarded a direct, below-threshold research-support contract to THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE FOR DEFENCE AND SECURITY STUDIES for work on its counter-infringement strategy from 2027 onwards and IP crime system design.
Published outcomeThe contract is recorded as active and explicitly signed on 2 September 2026, with a stated term to 1 August 2027.
Market significanceThis is a £98,799 net (£118,558.80 gross) specialist consultancy/services engagement awarded without competition.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
1 supplier record analysed
THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE FOR DEFENCE AND SECURITY STUDIES
99% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · £98,799 net / £118,558.80 gross contract value GBP · verified; award active
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Award 1 names the supplier under GB-COH-RC000531; supplier verification matched company number RC000531 to the verified legal name. Contract 1, linked to award 1, states the total contract value.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Published notice
99% confidenceContract details notice published 7 October 2026
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Contract document 094929-2026 has datePublished 2026-10-07T16:41:57+01:00.
Award status
98% confidenceActive
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Award 1 status is recorded as active.
Contract status
98% confidenceActive
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Contract 1 status is recorded as active.
Contract signature
99% confidenceSigned 2 September 2026
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Contract 1 provides dateSigned 2026-09-02T00:00:00+01:00.
VALUES
Published values explained
Contract value excluding VAT
99% confidence£98,799
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Contract 1 value.amount is 98799 GBP.
Contract value including VAT
99% confidence£118,558.80
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Contract 1 value.amountGross is 118558.8 GBP.
Value allocation
98% confidenceOne contract linked to award 1 and lot 1
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Contract 1 has awardID 1; award 1 is related to lot 1.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Contract start
99% confidence2 September 2026
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Contract 1 period.startDate is 2026-09-02T00:00:00+01:00.
Contract end
99% confidence1 August 2027
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Contract 1 period.endDate is 2027-08-01T23:59:59+01:00.
Stated term
95% confidenceApproximately 11 months
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Calculated from the explicit contract period of 2 September 2026 to 1 August 2027.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Requirement
98% confidenceResearch support for the IPO Enforcement Counter-Infringement Strategy for 2027 onwards and IP crime system design
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Published tender description.
Activities
98% confidencePolicy and strategy writing, stakeholder engagement, and insight on year-by-year success measures, milestones and actions
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Published tender description.
Category
99% confidenceServices: business and management consultancy and related services (CPV 79400000)
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Award item additional classification.
Delivery geography
96% confidenceUnited Kingdom
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Award item delivery address is region UK, country GB.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procurement method
99% confidenceDirect
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Tender procurementMethod is direct.
Competition approach
99% confidenceBelow threshold - without competition
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Tender procurementMethodDetails states this explicitly.
Legal basis
99% confidenceProcurement Act 2023 (2023/54)
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Tender legalBasis identifies UKPGA 2023/54.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Contract period
99% confidence2 September 2026 to 1 August 2027
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Contract 1 period fields.
Performance metric
98% confidenceTimeliness: delivery of agreed outputs in line with the approved project timetable and milestones
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Contract 1 agreedMetrics entry 0007.
Above-threshold status
99% confidenceNo
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Contract 1 aboveThreshold is false.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Route-to-market observation
99% confidenceThe buyer used a direct below-threshold route without competition.
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Tender procurement method and method details.
Demand signal
97% confidenceThe work combines strategy development, stakeholder engagement and measurable delivery planning for counter-infringement policy.
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Published requirement description.
Commercial scale
99% confidenceThe published net value is below £100,000.
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Contract value.amount is £98,799.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Supplier-name difference handled
99% confidenceThe verified legal supplier name differs from the source notice name; the legal verified name is used in this analysis.
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Supplier verification reports nameMismatch true and matches RC000531 to THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE FOR DEFENCE AND SECURITY STUDIES.
Lot detail availability
99% confidenceLot 1 has no published title, description or separate value.
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Lot record supplies only ID 1 and status complete; contract-level value is linked to award 1 and lot 1.
Competition information
97% confidenceBid count, evaluation, award rationale and scoring were not supplied in the published notice.
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No such fields are present in the supplied record.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- The notice does not publish an award date distinct from the contract signature date.
- Lot 1 has no published title, description, separate value or pricing breakdown.
- Information on bids, evaluation, award rationale, scores and competing suppliers was not supplied in the published notice.
- No extension, option or renewal terms were supplied; the renewal horizon is only an estimate derived from the contract end date.
- The source notice uses the shorter supplier name 'The Royal United Services Institute', while verification identifies the legal supplier as THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE FOR DEFENCE AND SECURITY STUDIES.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
Intellectual Property Officecounter-infringement strategyIP crimeresearch supportRUSIdirect awardProcurement Act 2023
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who won the IPO counter-infringement strategy research support contract?
THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE FOR DEFENCE AND SECURITY STUDIES, verified against company number RC000531.
What is the published contract value?
£98,799 excluding VAT and £118,558.80 including VAT.
When does the contract run?
The published contract period is 2 September 2026 to 1 August 2027.
Was the procurement competed?
The notice states that it was a direct, below-threshold procurement without competition.
ProcuraAxis award analysis supplements, but does not replace, the official award notice, contract data or procurement documents. “Awarded” does not by itself prove that a contract has been signed.