Schroeder, Norman L.

Hartmut Schneider is a partner in the firm's Regulatory and Government Affairs Department, and a member of the Antitrust and Competition and Aviation Practice Groups. He joined the firm in 1999.

Resident in WilmerHale's Washington office, Mr. Schneider is a US and German-qualified lawyer who practices antitrust law primarily before US agencies and courts. He has extensive experience in securing merger clearance for transactions in a diverse range of industries. He also regularly counsels clients on legal issues at the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property law, as well as on the compliance of joint ventures, other horizontal cooperation agreements and vertical distribution agreements with the antitrust laws.

Before relocating to Washington, Mr. Schneider worked in the Antitrust and Competition Department of the firm's Brussels and Berlin offices, as well as in the New York office. In addition to his US antitrust law expertise, Mr. Schneider has significant experience in EC and German competition law, as well as in EC state aid law.

Recent Highlights

• Assisting International Paper Company in securing antitrust clearance from the US Department of Justice for its $4.4B acquisition of Temple-Inland, Inc.
• Defending Cephalon in "reverse payment" Hatch Waxman patent settlement cases pending in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, including those brought by the Federal Trade Commission, Apotex, and a number of purported purchaser classes.
• Advising the founders of a patent pool for Blu-ray optical media technology on US antitrust aspects of the pool’s formation, and assisting in obtaining worldwide antitrust clearances for the establishment of the pool’s licensing agent.
• Advising the founders of a patent pool for Blu-ray optical media technology on US antitrust aspects of the pool’s formation, and assisting in obtaining worldwide antitrust clearances for the establishment of the pool’s licensing agent.
• Assisting Cisco Systems, Inc. in securing antitrust clearance from the US Department of Justice for its $3.4B acquisition of Tandberg ASA, the video communications solutions provider.
• Assisting Verizon Communications in securing antitrust clearance from the US Department of Justice for its acquisition of Alltel Corporation.
• Advising a multinational energy company on antitrust aspects of a dispute concerning LNG sales contracts.
• Advising on establishment of an antitrust compliance program for multinational printing company and for multinational digital imaging company.

Professional Activities

Mr. Schneider currently serves as a Vice Chair on the ABA Section of Antitrust Law’s Intellectual Property Committee and as a Member of the Section’s Long Range Planning Committee. Previously, he served as the Assistant to the Chair of the Section.

Publications

Mr. Schneider regularly publishes on various antitrust law-related issues, including on developments regarding the HSR Act and related to the standards applicable to joint licensing arrangements such as patent pools. He also has published on pre-merger notification rules for cooperative transactions and on the treatment of non-full function joint ventures under Art. 101 TFEU. Mr. Schneider also is co-author of the chapter on free movement of persons in J. Schwarze (ed.), EU-Kommentar.