California, Sep 18 (Alliance News):Google secured a legal victory on Wednesday as the EU’s General Court annulled a €1.49 billion ($1.66 billion) antitrust fine imposed by the European Commission.
In contrast, Qualcomm’s attempt to overturn its penalty was only partially successful, with the fine being reduced but not eliminated.
The court’s decision marks a significant moment in the ongoing scrutiny of Big Tech by the European Union.
While outgoing EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager faced a setback with the Google ruling, she recently achieved notable victories against other tech giants, including a separate case involving Google and Apple’s tax deal with Irish authorities.
In 2019, the European Commission fined Google for abusing its market dominance by restricting websites from using rival ad brokers outside of its AdSense platform. The practices in question spanned from 2006 to 2016.
Although the General Court agreed with many of the Commission’s findings, it annulled the fine, citing insufficient consideration of all relevant factors and failing to prove that the clauses had harmed consumers or stifled innovation.
Google welcomed the decision, highlighting that it had already adjusted its contract terms in 2016 to address the concerns raised before the Commission’s ruling.
The company expressed satisfaction with the court’s acknowledgment of errors in the initial fine.
The Commission has the option to appeal the ruling to the European Court of Justice and is currently evaluating its next steps.
In a separate case, Qualcomm’s appeal against its €242 million fine for predatory pricing was only partially successful.
The General Court reduced the fine to €238.7 million but upheld the Commission’s decision that Qualcomm’s pricing strategy aimed to eliminate competition from British phone software maker Icera, now part of Nvidia.
Qualcomm, which can also appeal to the European Court of Justice, has not yet commented on the ruling.
