As we have covered on this blog, the rules governing the timing for bid protests at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) and Court of Federal Claims (“COFC”) can be both complex and unforgiving.  But a recent COFC decision, Starside Security & Investigation, Inc. v. United States, found the Competition in Contract Act’s (“CICA”) deadline to obtain an automatic stay during a GAO protest to be subject to equitable tolling (i.e., effectively extended) — at least in the circumstances of that case.