Courts

EU regulator ‘should fail’ in appealing Intel victory as antitrust row rolls on

Regulators’ attempt to appeal annulment of a 2009 ruling accusing Intel of illegally thwarting competition should not succeed, one judge said

Intel: the chip giant was accused of hindering competition by giving rebates to computer makers from 2002 until 2005 — if they bought at least 95 per cent of PC chips from Intel. Picture: Getty

Intel won another boost in its ongoing legal fight with European Union regulators over a one-time record antitrust fine of €1.06 billion.

Advocate General Laila Medina of the EU’s Court of Justice said in a non-binding opinion that regulators’ attempt to upend Intel’s victory in a lower court should fail, because they didn’t show the company abused its dominance in the market for PC chips to thwart rivals.

The bloc’s top court often follows such ...