European court to review $1.3B fine against Intel

Intel has won a battle in its eight-year fight with the European Union (EU) over a $1.26 billion fine levied against the company.

The EU’s enforcement arm, the European Commission, proposed the fine in regard to a number of antitrust disputes involving Intel’s alleged market dominance in Europe.

The EU General Court is now slated to examine Intel’s arguments that it did not violate antitrust laws, raising the possibility for the chipmaker to avoid paying the $1.26 billion in full.

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“The Commission takes note of today’s ruling by the European Court of Justice (Case C-413/14 P) and will study the judgment carefully,” a spokesperson for the European Commission said in an emailed statement.

The fine, when it was originally ordered in 2009, was the largest antitrust penalty ever levied by the commission. It was superseded by the $2.7 billion antitrust fine the European regulatory body imposed on Google in June.

The search giant is currently cooperating with the Commission to reduce its anticompetitive practices.

A decision on Intel’s attempt to appeal could have implications on other cases as American technology companies battle the EU over various penalties.

Experts say that the decision this week to review the fine could give tech companies hope their own penalties could see the same fate and that they could ultimately be awarded appeals.

Google is currently awaiting decisions from the commission in regard to two more competition cases over its Android operating system and Adsense advertising tools.

The commission is also investigating whether or not Qualcomm unfairly paid Apple to use its chips for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company’s iPhones.