Competition: CJUE Landmark Judgment (Intel)

On 6 September 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") rendered a highly anticipated judgment in case C-413/14 P, opposing the US-based microchip manufacturer Intel to the European Commission.

The CJEU quashed the 2014 judgment of the General Court which had upheld the then-record fine of € 1.06 billion imposed on Intel by the Commission for infringement of the competition rules. According to the Commission, Intel had abused of its dominant position on the market for a certain type of central processing unit by implementing a strategy including, in particular, loyalty rebates to certain important customers, aimed at foreclosing from the market its most important competitor.