Intel rejects EU deadline in antitrust case

Plus demands all of its court costs be paid

28 November 2008 17:14 GMT / By Katie Scott

It's been rumbling on for ages but now the antitrust case levelled at Intel by EU authorities has taken another twist.

Intel is supposed to be answering accusations from way back in July that it slashed prices below cost and offered huge rebates in an illegal attempt to drive smaller competitor Advanced Micro Devices Inc out of the market.

Intel's last move had been to ask for more time to prepare its case - a plea that was rejected by the EU.

Now the chip maker is trying to nullify all of the European Commission's (EC) previous decisions.

The Official Journal of the European Union is reporting that Intel wants the EC to pay for all its court costs, and also wants the filing deadline extended to 30 days after Intel receives certain documents it wants.

These documents are allegedly evidence that AMD has filed in the case, although reports suggest that Intel has yet to stipulate exactly what it wants.

Intel is claiming that the Commission's Hearing Officer "acted improperly" when he ruled that Intel did not need access to these documents for its defence.

But overall, Intel seems to be trying to push the EC to start the whole case over again. Great!