United States Fourth Circuit

In case involving sale of auxiliary output chips, manufactured by defendant, to plaintiff U.K. Ministry of Defence for use in certain global positioning satellite devices, dismissal of complaint is affirmed where plaintiff, a foreign government, is not a third-party beneficiary of a contract for military goods between the U.S. and a domestic military contractor. Affording a foreign purchaser such extraordinary third-party beneficiary rights is contrary to the structure and intent of the Foreign Military Sales program.

Appellate Information

• Argued 01/31/2007
• Decided 05/10/2007
• Published 05/10/2007

Judges

• Before WIDENER, TRAXLER, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  Mark Douglas Colley, Holland & Knight, Washington, D.C., for Appellant.  Alan Arnold Pemberton, Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.  Thomas Mark Bondy, United States Department of Justice, Civil Division, Appellate Section, Washington, D.C., for Amicus Supporting Appellee.   ON BRIEF:  Richard O. Duvall, Jennifer A. Short, David B. Dempsey, Eric L. Yeo, Holland & Knight, McLean, Virginia, for Appellant.  Eugene D. Gulland, Derron J. Blakely, Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.  Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney, Douglas N. Letter, Sushma Soni, United States Department of Justice, Civil Division, Appellate Section, Washington, D.C., for Amicus Supporting Appellee.