Intel wins appeal against $1.2 billion EU antitrust fine

Intel's legal battle against the European Union turned to the chip giant's favor as the EU General Court toppled the 1.06 billion EUR ($1.2 billion) fine that was levied on Intel in 2009. The court basically smashed one of the EU's most important antitrust cases, stating regulators made key errors and performed "incomplete” analysis."

The 1.06 billion EUR fine was made on the allegation that Intel squeezed AMD out of the market via allegedly illegal rebates in the 2002 to 2005 time period. But now the Luxembourg-based EU court concludes there was insufficient evidence to back up findings of anti-competitive behavior.

It will be interesting to see if this ruling will hold -- it can be appealed one more time. Bloomberg reports the surprise ruling may provide fuel to other companies to appeal similar antitrust fines. The news agency also points out it's startling how long legal procedures in the EU last:

“But it is even more striking that it has taken over twenty years for a decision on this antitrust case,” [Agustin] Reyna[, BEUC’s director for legal and economic affairs]. said. “What we need is an urgent, speeding up of antitrust procedures. It cannot take so long for the conclusion of a case in which there are such serious competition concerns raised.”