Eu Antitrust Regulators Not Probing Qualcomm Licensing Deals -Eu Source

[Ron Burgundy]

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union antitrust regulators are not investigating U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm's patent licensing deals, an EU source said on Thursday in response to media reports saying that scrutiny of the company had been expanded to this issue. The European Commission has been looking into rebates and financial incentives offered by Qualcomm since 2010 to check if it was using these in breach of EU rules to discourage customers from switching to rivals. The case was instigated after a complaint from British cellphone chipmaker Icera, a subsidiary of Qualcomm rival Nvidia Corp. However, the way Qualcomm licenses its patents is not being targeted by the Commission, the source said. "The Commission is currently not investigating a possible abuse by Qualcomm with regard to the licensing of standard essential patents," said the source, who asked to remain anonymous.

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