London (England) - Intel has asked the European Commission (EC) to take the anti-trust case to court after responding to charges as of yesterday, one business day after the court’s deadline of last Friday, January 4, 2008. The EC had previously ruled that Intel had until October 8, 2007, to respond to allegations. When Intel was unable to do so, the deadline was extended to January 4. Intel believes that they have acted appropriately and are asking for a trial.

The trial would not be a public trial. Instead, following current compliance with the EC anti-trust watchdog body, Intel would seek to have their case heard before a court officer in a closed session. While the court officer is not a judge and would not make a ruling, the report and findings would be given directly to the Competition Commissioner, named Neelie Kroes. If Kroes ultimately finds Intel guilty of anti-trust violations, his office is authorized to fine Intel up to 10% of their global annual revenue for the timeframe affected, which could be a multi-billion dollar fine.

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