I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1086
To encourage the development and promulgation of voluntary consensus 
standards by providing relief under the antitrust laws to standards devel-
opment organizations with respect to conduct engaged in for the purpose 
of developing voluntary consensus standards, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 5, 2003
Mr. SENSENBRENNER (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. HALL, 
Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. COBLE, Mr. 
ISSA, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. HART, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. KELLER, Mr. MEE-
HAN, Mr. FORBES, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. FEENEY, and Mr. 
WEINER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To encourage the development and promulgation of voluntary 
consensus standards by providing relief under the anti-
trust laws to standards development organizations with 
respect to conduct engaged in for the purpose of devel-
oping voluntary consensus standards, and for other pur-
poses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Standards Develop-
ment Organization Advancement Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) In 1993, the Congress amended and re-
named the National Cooperative Research Act of 
1984 (now known as the National Cooperative Re-
search and Production Act of 1993 (15 U.S.C. 4301 
et seq.)) by enacting the National Cooperative Pro-
duction Amendments of 1993 (Public Law 103–42) 
to encourage the use of collaborative, procompetitive 
activity in the form of research and production joint 
ventures that provide adequate disclosure to the 
antitrust enforcement agencies about the nature and 
scope of the activity involved. 
(2) Subsequently, in 1995, the Congress in en-
acting the National Technology Transfer and Ad-
vancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) recog-
nized the importance of technical standards devel-
oped by voluntary consensus standards bodies to our 
national economy by requiring the use of such stand-
ards to the extent practicable by Federal agencies 
and by encouraging Federal agency representatives 
to participate in ongoing standards development ac-
tivities. The Office of Management and Budget on
February 18, 1998, revised Circular A–119 to re-
flect these changes made in law. 
(3) Following enactment of the National Tech-
nology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, 
technical standards developed or adopted by vol-
untary consensus standards bodies have replaced 
thousands of unique Government standards and 
specifications allowing the national economy to oper-
ate in a more unified fashion. 
(4) Having the same technical standards used 
by Federal agencies and by the private sector per-
mits the Government to avoid the cost of developing 
duplicative Government standards and to more read-
ily use products and components designed for the 
commercial marketplace, thereby enhancing quality 
and safety and reducing costs. 
(5) Technical standards are written by hun-
dreds of nonprofit voluntary consensus standards 
bodies in a nonexclusionary fashion, using thousands 
of volunteers from the private and public sectors, 
and are developed under the standards development 
principles set out in Circular Number A–119, as re-
vised February 18, 1998, of the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget, including principles that require
openness, balance, transparency, consensus, and due 
process. Such principles provide for—
(A) notice to all parties known to be af-
fected by the particular standards development 
activity, 
(B) the opportunity to participate in 
standards development or modification, 
(C) balancing interests so that standards 
development activities are not dominated by any 
single group of interested persons, 
(D) readily available access to essential in-
formation regarding proposed and final stand-
ards, 
(E) the requirement that substantial 
agreement be reached on all material points 
after the consideration of all views and objec-
tions, and 
(F) the right to express a position, to have 
it considered, and to appeal an adverse decision. 
(6) There are tens of thousands of voluntary 
consensus standards available for government use. 
Most of these standards are kept current through in-
terim amendments and interpretations, issuance of 
addenda, and periodic reaffirmation, revision, or 
reissuance every 3 to 5 years.
(7) Standards developed by government entities 
generally are not subject to challenge under the anti-
trust laws. 
(8) Private developers of the technical stand-
ards that are used as Government standards are 
often not similarly protected, leaving such developers 
vulnerable to being named as codefendants in law-
suits even though the likelihood of their being held 
liable is remote in most cases, and they generally 
have limited resources to defend themselves in such 
lawsuits. 
(9) Standards development organizations do not 
stand to benefit from any antitrust violations that 
might occur in the voluntary consensus standards 
development process. 
(10) As was the case with respect to research 
and production joint ventures before the passage of 
the National Cooperative Research and Production 
Act of 1993, if relief from the threat of liability 
under the antitrust laws is not granted to voluntary 
consensus standards bodies, both regarding the de-
velopment of new standards and efforts to keep ex-
isting standards current, such bodies could be forced 
to cut back on standards development activities at
great financial cost both to the Government and to 
the national economy. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 2 of the National Cooperative Research and 
Production Act of 1993 (15 U.S.C. 4301) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a) by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(7) The term ‘standards development activity’ 
means any action taken by a standards development 
organization for the purpose of developing, promul-
gating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpreting, 
or otherwise maintaining a voluntary consensus 
standard, or using such standard in conformity as-
sessment activities, including actions relating to the 
intellectual property policies of the standards devel-
opment organization. 
‘‘(8) The term ‘standards development organi-
zation’ means a domestic or international organiza-
tion that plans, develops, establishes, or coordinates 
voluntary consensus standards using procedures that 
incorporate the attributes of openness, balance of in-
terests, due process, an appeals process, and con-
sensus in a manner consistent with the Office of 
Management and Budget Circular Number A–119, 
as revised February 10, 1998.
‘‘(9) The term ‘technical standard’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 12(d)(4) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act 
of 1995. 
‘‘(10) The term ‘voluntary consensus standard’ 
has the meaning given such term in Office of Man-
agement and Budget Circular Number A–119, as re-
vised February 10, 1998.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c) The term ‘standards development activity’ ex-
cludes the following activities: 
‘‘(1) Exchanging information among competi-
tors relating to cost, sales, profitability, prices, mar-
keting, or distribution of any product, process, or 
service that is not reasonably required for the pur-
pose of developing or promulgating a voluntary con-
sensus standard, or using such standard in con-
formity assessment activities. 
‘‘(2) Entering into any agreement or engaging 
in any other conduct that would allocate a market 
with a competitor. 
‘‘(3) Entering into any agreement or conspiracy 
that would set or restrain prices of any good or serv-
ice.’’.