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Europe rejects Intel plea to delay antitrust investigation

by Scott Bicheno on 28 January 2009, 09:59

Tags: Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), AMD (NYSE:AMD), European Commission

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaqt7

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Pyrrhic victory?

Intel received a Statement of Objections from the European Commission (EC) last July regarding antitrust allegations and was given until 17th October to address it.

Just before that deadline Intel said it needed access to a bunch of confidential AMD documents in order to properly carry out its defence and needed an extension of the deadline in order to properly examine those documents.

When that request was declined by the EC, Intel took its case to the European Court of First Instance, which then took three months to come to the conclusion that no delay was justified.

Is it just me?

Anyway, for all of you who love protracted legal waffle, the official ruling on the matter can be found here. The case number is T‑457/08 R.

AMD was unsurprisingly pleased with the ruling. "We are not surprised by the Court's decision to reject Intel's application. The order is entirely consistent with the continuous and clear case law on this issue and Intel's appeal was simply an attempt to delay the Commission's decision-making process," said Tom McCoy, AMD Executive VP for legal, corporate and public affairs

The EC said it was pleased with the decision but wouldn't commit to doing anything about it.