EU court rejects Intel bid for delay
Europe's second-highest court turns down request for delay in antitrust probe. Chipmaker said it made bid so it could gain access to additional documents to bolster its defense.
Updated at 3:45 p.m. PST with Intel comments.
On Tuesday, an EU court rejected Intel's bid to delay a deadline for the chipmaker to address antitrust concerns.
In October, Intel filed a petition with the Court of First Instance, Europe's second-highest court, asking for a delay in the investigation by the European Commission so the company could gain access to additional documents to bolster its defense.
The world's largest chipmaker is accused by the European Commission of giving rebates to a large retailer with the aim of discouraging the retailer from using chips from rival Advanced Micro Devices.
Intel has said in the past that its practices are lawful and do not harm consumers.
"While Intel is disappointed with today's ruling on interim measures the decision has no bearing on the merits of this case," Intel said in a statement Tuesday. "Certain AMD documents were made part of the record in the European proceeding and Intel sought to demonstrate that those documents indicated that other highly relevant documents existed," Intel said.
AMD welcomed the ruling. "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," AMD Executive Vice President, Legal, Corporate and Public Affairs Tom McCoy said in a statement.
As a result of the ruling, the Commission is not legally obligated to review any additional documentation Intel would file to defend itself.