Intel is seeking to be paid interest of €593 million on the overturned €1.05 billion fine it received from the European Commission back in 2009. The antitrust ruling was overturned at the beginning of the year, and so Intel has gone to EU General Court seeking compensation and interest on the fine. In fact, Intel is claiming back almost half of that original fine, based on the European Central Bank’s refinancing rates.
In case you need a reminder on all of this: Intel allegedly took part in anti-competitive practices that saw it offer conditional rebates to key OEMs such as Dell, HP, and Lenovo, making it difficult for competitors (read AMD, or ARM if you prefer, but really AMD) to compete with their own CPUs.
The European Commission concluded in 2009 that Intel had indeed behaved in such a way between October 2002 and December 2007 and hit it with one of the largest ever fines at the time at a cool €1.05 billion.
Intel appealed the decision unsuccessfully in 2012, but in 2014 it brought the case to the European Court of Justice, which sent it back to the General Court in 2017. The case has been going back and fourth ever since. In January of this year, the court sided with Intel, stating that the European Commission’s analysis was incomplete and that it hadn’t established a legal standard that the rebates at the heart of the matter were anticompetitive.
The timing is interesting, as this whole debacle isn’t over yet, as the European Commission said it would appeal the court’s most recent decision, back in April. Intel’s demands are unlikely to be listened to until that appeal is heard, but by talking about interest payments, it’s clear that it wants a resolution for this whole matter. It has also asked the court to impose additional interest on any late payments of those charges. Thanks, The Register.
