Intel suffered another setback earlier today in what is considered the longest antitrust case in tech history, a 16-year legal battle with the European Union. (According to Reuters)ReportIntel's response to the European Commission The previously imposed fine of 3.76 million eurosThe appeal against the ruling failed, and the court upheld the original judgment's finding of wrongdoing, but reduced the fine by about one-third, to 2.37 million euros (about 2.766 million US dollars).
Going back to the era of netbooks, "naked restriction" clauses became key.
This case dates back to 2009, when mobile computing was just emerging and netbooks were still the mainstream products in the PC market. The EU accused Intel of violating antitrust laws on two levels:
• Using illegal hidden rebates to squeeze competitors out of the PC processor market.
• Pay fees to manufacturers, demanding that they delay or stop production of products equipped with AMD processors.
This ruling primarily targets the second point, namely the violation known as "naked restrictions." The ruling states that between 2002 and 2006, Intel paid payments to PC manufacturers such as HP, Acer, and Lenovo to restrict the development of their competitors.
The fine has dropped from 10 billion to 2 million, and the lawsuit is still not over?
This legal battle has dragged on for years between the European Courts of Justice, and Intel has actually achieved some victories: In 2022, the General Court of the European Union overturned the initial ruling on the "hidden rebates" part, and the European Court of Justice subsequently confirmed this result last year, making...The original fine was as high as 10.6 billion euros (approximately 12 billion US dollars).It was revoked.
However, the €3.76 million fine for the "naked restriction" was re-established in 2023. Intel's appeal originally hoped to have this fine overturned as well, but ultimately only secured a reduction in the amount.
Even though this ruling may seem to have brought the case to a close, according to EU legal procedures, both the European Commission and Intel can still appeal to the European Court of Justice regarding their legal arguments.
