EU Court Upholds Record $1.43 Billion Fine Against Intel

By Tom Fairless 

BRUSSELS--The European Union's second-highest court on Thursday upheld a record EUR1.06 billion ($1.43 billion) fine against Intel Corp. for abusing its dominant position in the microprocessor market.

The Luxembourg-based General Court of the EU threw out "in its entirety" an appeal by the U.S.-based chip maker, which had argued that a 2009 decision by EU competition authorities to issue the biggest ever antitrust fine against a single company was based on mistakes and ignored evidence.

An investigation by the European Commission, the EU's central antitrust authority, had concluded that Intel sought to cut rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. out of the market by offering rebates to computer makers for using its chips.

In its ruling, the court said rebates granted by Intel to Dell, Hewlett-Packard Co., NEC Corp of Japan and Lenovo were "capable of restricting competition and foreclosing competitors from the market."

The Commission "showed to the requisite legal standard the existence of the exclusivity rebates and the naked restrictions at issue in its decision," and demonstrated that Intel attempted to conceal the anti-competitive nature of its practices, the court said.

It also rejected Intel's argument that the scale of the fine was disproportionate.

"The fine is equivalent to 4.15% of Intel's annual turnover, which is well below the 10% ceiling provided for," the court said.

Corrections & Amplifications

The General Court of the EU threw out the appeal by Intel. An earlier version of this story stated that the ruling was made by the European Court of Justice.

Write to Tom Fairless at [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires