Q&A: WilmerHale’s Hartmut Schneider

As co-chair of this year's ABA Antitrust Section Spring Meeting, Hartmut Schneider has scarce time on his hands as the annual antitrust mega-meet-up creeps closer. He still managed to talk to GCR, however, about cross-border procedural issues, how the US agencies can be more efficient, and which lawyers he thinks are "the complete package".

What do you think are the most interesting issues in antitrust right now?

The antitrust/IP interface continues to raise complex questions and will remain in the spotlight for some time. We may, finally, see an emerging international consensus on the availability of injunctive relief for infringement of declared standard-essential patents. But many other questions remain, both in high-tech – patent acquisitions, privateering – and in other areas where antitrust and intellectual property rights intersect, such as pharma.