The chip company Intel has achieved a significant legal victory. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that the EU antitrust authorities may not impose a fine of 1.06 billion euros on the US company in the long-standing case concerning allegedly anti-competitive practices in the computer chip market.

The EU Commission imposed a record fine on Intel in 2009 for allegedly abusing its dominant market position in the x86 CPUs sector. Allegations included Intel making payments to manufacturers to stop or delay the introduction of competing products and offering discounts if they purchased Intel's x86 CPUs.

Intel appealed the penalty, leading to a protracted legal dispute that stretched over more than 15 years. In 2022, the Higher Regional Court of Cologne overturned the original fine, as the analysis by the antitrust authorities was deemed incomplete and there was insufficient proof that the alleged discounts had harmed competition. Subsequently, the EU Commission imposed a lower fine of approximately 376.76 million euros and appealed to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

On Thursday, the European Court of Justice rejected the Commission's appeal, thus upholding the decision of the Higher Regional Court of Cologne. As a result, the original charges against Intel have been definitively dismissed, and the company does not have to pay the previously determined fine.

This decision underscores the challenges faced by American technology companies with European regulations and the importance of thorough and comprehensive investigations in antitrust proceedings. Deutsche Bank and other financial institutions were positively surprised by the verdict. In NASDAQ trading, Intel's stock temporarily rose by 1.11% to 22.23 US dollars. Intel and the EU Commission were initially unavailable for comment.