Intel escapes a billion euro European fine: a look back at a case that has been going on for 15 years!

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15 years after being fined $1.06 billion (a record fine at the time), Intel has won a victory following a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union. As a reminder, on May 13, 2009, the European Commission had sanctioned Intel for abuse of a dominant position. The processor manufacturer was accused of offering discounts to PC manufacturers, on the condition that these companies buy all or almost all of the x86 processors they need from Intel. The Commission had also pointed out payments to a major distributor to promote its products. The investigation had been launched following complaints filed by competitor AMD.

In any case, the decision of the European Commission was followed by a very long legal battle. As the press release from the Court of Justice of the EU recalls, the General Court of the European Union rejected Intel's appeal “in its entirety”. But this judgment was later overturned by the Court of Justice of the EU, which referred the case back to the General Court. On referral, the General Court annulled part of the European Commission's decision, as well as the entire fine. The European Commission subsequently appealed this judgment of the General Court of the European Union in 2022.

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The Court of Justice of the EU confirms the annulment of the fine

It is this appeal by the Commission that was recently rejected by the Court, which thus confirms the decision of the General Court of the EU to annul the fine imposed on Intel. However, this is not a total victory for Intel. Indeed, as mentioned above, the decision of the European Commission was only partially annulled. As explained in a press release from Brussels, the General Court confirmed the “illegality” of a practice called “naked restriction” that Intel was also accused of: according to the Commission’s decision in 2019, Intel paid PC manufacturers to stop or delay the launches of certain products using competing x86 processors.

Based on this development, the Commission imposed a new fine of €376.36 million on Intel in September 2023.

• In 2019, Intel was fined more than €1 billion for abuse of a dominant position
• This fine was annulled by the General Court of the EU and this decision was upheld by the Court of Justice of the EU
• However, the courts partially ruled in favour of Brussels, which has already imposed a new fine in 2023

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