FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) Findings.—The Congress finds that— (1) technological innovation and its profitable commercialization are critical components of the ability of the United States to raise the living standards of Americans and to compete in world markets; (2) cooperative arrangements among nonaffiliated businesses in the private sector are often essential for successful technological innovation; and (3) the antitrust laws may have been mistakenly perceived to inhibit procompetitive cooperative innovation arrangements, and so clarification serves a useful purpose in helping to promote such arrangements. (b) Purpose.—It is the purpose of this Act to promote innovation, facilitate trade, and strengthen the competitiveness of the United States in world markets by clarifying the applicability of the rule of reason standard and establishing a procedure under which businesses may notify the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission of their cooperative ventures and thereby qualify for a single-damages limitation on civil antitrust liability. [15 U.S.C. 4301 note]