Expanded Antitrust Protection for SDOs (Tax Exempt Organizations)

On June 22, 2004, President Bush signed into law H.R. 1086, which includes the Standards Development Organizations Advancement Act of 2004 (SDOAA). The SDOAA is intended to limit the potential liability of standards development organizations (SDOs) with respect to conduct engaged in for the purpose of developing voluntary consensus standards. The SDOAA extends antitrust protections provided by the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993 (NCRPA) to SDOs while those organizations are engaged in standards development activity.

The SDOAA amends NCRPA to provide that SDOs are subject to a rule of reason standard in any antitrust suit and to provide special rules regarding the recovery of attorneys' fees and costs in any antitrust case challenging a qualifying SDOs standards development activity. The SDOAA also provides qualifying SDOs with the opportunity to limit their antitrust liability for standards development activities to actual, as opposed to treble, damages.