EU panel set to meet on Qualcomm case soon-source

Related Topics

Mon Sep 7, 2009 3:05pm EDT

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS, Sept 7 (Reuters) - European Union antitrust regulators are set to convene a panel in the coming days to review its case against U.S. wireless chipmaker Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O), a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The European Commission launched a probe against Qualcomm in October 2007 after Nokia (NOK1V.HE), Broadcom Corp (BRCM.O) and other companies asked the EU competition watchdog to examine Qualcomm's royalties and licensing terms. Qualcomm settled its legal dispute with Nokia (NOK1V.HE) in July last year and with Broadcom Corp (BRCM.O) in April this year. Other complainants include Ericsson (ERICb.ST), Texas Instruments TXN.N, NEC (6701.T) and Panasonic (6752.T). The panel, consisting of about 20 Commission officials, will discuss the case and forward its proposal to Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes before she makes a final decision, the source told Reuters.

The source said the Commission typically convenes a panel for major cases that have repercussions on a sector or competition policy.

Kroes made headlines in May when she slapped a record 1.06 billion euro fine on U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp (INTC.O) for anticompetitive behaviour.

EU regulators also underlined their tough stance last week when they launched an in-depth probe into Oracle Corp's (ORCL.O) $7 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc JAVA.O, which had already been cleared by their U.S. counterparts.

Qualcomm has been involved in patent disputes with other regulators. Japan's antitrust authorities sent the company a draft order in July saying it illegally pressured Japanese handset makers to accept unfair licensing provisions.

Qualcomm has disputed the claim. Earlier in July, South Korea's antitrust agency fined it $208 million and ordered it to end discriminatory licensing practices.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Martin Golan)

((foo.yunchee@thomsonreuters.com; tel +32 2 287 6844; Reuters Messaging: foo.yunchee.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: EU QUALCOMM/

(C) Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution ofReuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuterssphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group ofcompanies around the world.nL753569

Japan
South Korea

Related Quotes and News

Company
Price
Related News
Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.