Intel’s appeal against EU fine heads to court

Intel is heading to Europe’s second-highest court in July to challenge a €1bn antitrust fine.

The chip maker will have four days this summer to argue EU regulators failed to prove it blocked rival AMD in their 2009 antitrust decision.

The European Commission, which acts as EU competition regulator, penalised Intel with its largest ever corporate fine because of anticompetitive tactics against arch-rival AMD. The decision came after an eight-year-long investigation.

Intel will argue its case in a four-day hearing at the Luxembourg-based General Court on 3-6 July, said two people familiar with the case.

The company has said the fine, which represented 4.15% of its 2008 turnover, was “manifestly disproportionate”. EU regulators can penalise companies with fines of up to 10% of their global revenue.

Intel has already gained backing from the European Ombudsman, who censured the Commission for procedural errors in its investigation.

In his non-binding report issued five months after the regulatory finding, the Ombudsman said he had found “maladministration” because the regulator had failed to make a proper note of a meeting with computer maker Dell during its probe.