The EU’s highest court will issue a ruling in the Intel antitrust case on September 6

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s top court will decide on Sept. 6 whether to uphold Intel’s appeal against the EU’s 1.06 billion euro ($1.2 billion) antitrust fine. The case has ramifications for Google’s record-breaking exit sanction challenge this week. The European Commission punished U.S. chipmaker Intel in 2009 for trying to overtake rival Advanced Micro Devices by giving rebates to PC makers Dell (DI.UL), Hewlett-Packard Co, NEC and Lenovo for buying most of their computer chips from Intel. The fine was a record for a single company for violating antitrust laws and was only eclipsed this week by a €2.4 billion fine against Google. Intel challenged this decision in court. Judges at the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice (ECJ) will announce their judgment on September 6, a court spokeswoman said, ending a story that spanned more than a decade. Last year, Intel won the support of Court of Justice adviser Nils Wahl, who questioned whether the company’s actions actually harmed competition. The Supreme Court follows such non-binding recommendations in four out of five cases. However, in 2014, a lower court supported the Commission. Google, fined by the EU competition authority on Tuesday for unfairly promoting its shopping service at the expense of competitors, will be closely watching the verdict for clues on how to fight the legal battle. He is expected to appeal against the EU fine. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)