The Intel Case – Facts Do Matter!

1. Introduction

Companies commonly use rebates to maximise sales. From a competition law perspective, such rebate schemes are ordinarily unproblematic. However, dominant companies may apply rebates in a way that distorts competition, in particular when applied in a discriminatory or arbitrary manner or – under certain circumstances – if they secure de facto exclusivity for the supplier.

In a highly anticipated judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has now had its say in the long-running abuse of dominance case concerning Intel's past rebate practices in relation to its computer processing chips (CPUs). This follows the 2009 imposition of a €1.06 billion fine by the European Commission (Commission) on Intel and an appeal by Intel to the General Court (GC) in 2014, which upheld the Commission's finding that the rebates were abusive in the sense of Article 102 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).