Intel Corp.’s fight to overturn a record 1.06 billion-euro ($1.17 billion) European Union antitrust fine received a boost from an adviser to the bloc’s top court in a case that could have ramifications for a growing list of disputes involving U.S. tech giants from Google to Apple Inc.
Intel’s appeal should be totally re-examined by a lower court, which blundered by ruling against the company’s system of rebates for PC makers using its chips, Advocate General Nils Wahl of the EU Court of Justice said in a non-binding opinion Thursday. The top court will decide whether to back his views in a ruling expected within about six months.
The EU’s eight-year investigation found that Intel impeded competition by giving rebates to computer makers from 2002 until 2005 on the condition that they buy at least 95 percent of chips for PCs from Intel.
The case is: C-413/14 P, Intel Corporation v. Commission