diff --git a/schema/bom-1.6.schema.json b/schema/bom-1.6.schema.json
index a6574a59..c9ab597d 100644
--- a/schema/bom-1.6.schema.json
+++ b/schema/bom-1.6.schema.json
@@ -121,10 +121,10 @@
   },
   "definitions": {
     "refType": {
-      "description": "Identifier for referable and therefore interlink-able elements.",
+      "description": "Identifier for referable and therefore interlink-able elements.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links.",
       "type": "string",
       "minLength": 1,
-      "$comment": "value SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:'"
+      "$comment": "TODO (breaking change): add a format constraint that prevents the value from staring with 'urn:cdx:'"
     },
     "refLinkType": {
       "description": "Descriptor for an element identified by the attribute 'bom-ref' in the same BOM document.\nIn contrast to `bomLinkElementType`.",
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@
         "bom-ref": {
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType",
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the object elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM."
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the object elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links."
         },
         "name": {
           "type": "string",
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@
         "bom-ref": {
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType",
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the object elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM."
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the object elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links."
         },
         "name": {
           "type": "string",
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@
         "bom-ref": {
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType",
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the component elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM."
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the component elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links."
         },
         "supplier": {
           "title": "Component Supplier",
@@ -741,7 +741,7 @@
         "bom-ref": {
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType",
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the license elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM."
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the license elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links."
         },
         "id": {
           "$ref": "spdx.schema.json",
@@ -954,7 +954,7 @@
               "bom-ref": {
                 "$ref": "#/definitions/refType",
                 "title": "BOM Reference",
-                "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the license elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM."
+                "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the license elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links."
               }
             }
           }]
@@ -1257,7 +1257,7 @@
         "bom-ref": {
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType",
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the service elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM."
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the service elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links."
         },
         "provider": {
           "title": "Provider",
@@ -1557,7 +1557,7 @@
               "bom-ref": {
                 "$ref": "#/definitions/refType",
                 "title": "BOM Reference",
-                "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the occurrence elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM."
+                "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the occurrence elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links."
               },
               "location": {
                 "type": "string",
@@ -1647,7 +1647,7 @@
         "bom-ref": {
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType",
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the composition elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM."
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the composition elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links."
         },
         "aggregate": {
           "$ref": "#/definitions/aggregateType",
@@ -1999,7 +1999,7 @@
         "bom-ref": {
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType",
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the vulnerability elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM."
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the vulnerability elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links."
         },
         "id": {
           "type": "string",
@@ -2365,7 +2365,7 @@
         "bom-ref": {
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType",
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the annotation elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM."
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the annotation elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links."
         },
         "subjects": {
           "type": "array",
@@ -2459,7 +2459,7 @@
         "bom-ref": {
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType",
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the model card elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM."
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the model card elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links."
         },
         "modelParameters": {
           "type": "object",
@@ -2648,7 +2648,7 @@
         "bom-ref": {
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType",
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the dataset elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM."
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the dataset elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links."
         },
         "type": {
           "type": "string",
@@ -2878,7 +2878,7 @@
       "properties": {
         "bom-ref": {
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the formula elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.",
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the formula elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links.",
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType"
         },
         "components": {
@@ -2932,7 +2932,7 @@
       "properties": {
         "bom-ref": {
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the workflow elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.",
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the workflow elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links.",
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType"
         },
         "uid": {
@@ -3075,7 +3075,7 @@
       "properties": {
         "bom-ref": {
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the task elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.",
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the task elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links.",
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType"
         },
         "uid": {
@@ -3247,7 +3247,7 @@
       "properties": {
         "bom-ref": {
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the workspace elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.",
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the workspace elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links.",
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType"
         },
         "uid": {
@@ -3394,7 +3394,7 @@
       "properties": {
         "bom-ref": {
           "title": "BOM Reference",
-          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the trigger elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.",
+          "description": "An optional identifier which can be used to reference the trigger elsewhere in the BOM. Every bom-ref MUST be unique within the BOM.\nValue SHOULD not start with the BOM-Link intro 'urn:cdx:' to avoid conflicts with BOM-Links.",
           "$ref": "#/definitions/refType"
         },
         "uid": {