[Protest of NIST Rejection of Bid and Subsequent Contract Award for Spectrometer]

A firm protested the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) rejection of its bid and subsequent contract award for an optical spectrometer, contending that: (1) its product exceeded the brand-name specifications, could have saved the government money, and could be used by other departments at NIST; (2) problems with the NIST telefax machine caused the late receipt of its bid; and (3) the awardee was not financially responsible. GAO held that: (1) NIST properly determined that the protester's product did not comply with the brand-name specifications; (2) the protester bore the responsibility for timely delivery of its telefaxed bid to NIST; and (3) it would not review the NIST determination of the awardee's responsibility, absent a showing of fraud or bad faith. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed in part and denied in part.