Chipmaker Intel scored a decisive legal victory in a long-running battle against European Union competition watchdogs after a court reversed itself and threw out a billion euro antitrust fine issued more than a decade ago.
By Associated Press|Jan. 26, 2022By Associated Press|Jan. 26, 2022, at 7:34 a.m.EU Court Annuls Intel's 2009 Billion Euro Antitrust Fine
MoreFILE - An Intel logo on the box containing an HP desktop computer on sale at a Costco in Pittsburgh, Jan. 1, 2018. Chipmaker Intel scored a decisive legal victory Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, in a long-running battle against European Union competition watchdogs after a court reversed itself and threw out a billion euro antitrust fine issued more than a decade ago. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File) The Associated Press
The Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — Chipmaker Intel scored a decisive legal victory Wednesday in a long-running battle against European Union competition watchdogs after a court reversed itself and threw out a billion euro antitrust fine issued more than a decade ago.
The EU's General Court annuled the 1.06 billion euro fine ($1.43 billion at current exchange rates) that competition regulators issued Intel in 2009 for allegedly using illegal sales tactics to shut out smaller rival AMD.
It was the General Court's second decision on the case, after the bloc's top court ordered it to take another look at its earlier decision.
The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top antitrust enforcers, had fined Intel for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the global market for x86 microprocessors with a strategy to exclude rivals by using rebates.
Political Cartoons
The General Court upheld the penalty in 2014 but three years later the EU’s Court of Justice ruled that the fine could be sent back for further legal review, citing a legal error.
This time around, the General Court found that “the analysis carried out by the Commission is incomplete” and doesn’t legally establish that rebates Intel was giving to customers had anticompetitive effects, according to a summary of the ruling.
The latest court decision can be appealed to the Court of Justice but only on points of law.
Intel didn't respond immediately to a request early Wednesday for comment.
“We will need to study in detail what we can learn from the ECJ from this judgment,” European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager said at a press briefing in Brussels.
Vestager, who took over as EU competition commissioner in 2014, said she'll look at “what is the balance between the things that we won, and the things that we lost and the annulment of the fine. How to react to that - we will need a bit of time."
___
See all of AP’s tech coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/technology.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Tags: Associated Press, business, technology, California
Recommended Articles
Galleries
Elections
Political Cartoons on Joe BidenPhotos
Photos You Should See - January 2022Photos
The Year in Photos: 2021News
The Week in Cartoons Jan. 17-21Recommended
Politics
Fallen Bridge Accents Biden’s BBB PleaPolitics
The Midterm Implications of Biden’s PickWorld News
Zelenskiy Slams Biden for Invasion RhetoricWorld News
Russia Softens Stance on UkraineEconomy
Survey: Consumer Sentiment Falling
