The court said the EU must pay some of the legal costs demanded by Qualcomm.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Qualcomm’s logo is seen at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ​​Spain, February 27, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman/file photo

By Puyunchi

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s second highest court says EU regulators must pay 785,857.54 euros ($851,634) in legal costs against Qualcomm (NASDAQ:). That’s less than 90% of the 12 million euros the U.S. chipmaker had asked for after winning an appeal. Antitrust fines.

The General Court in Luxembourg found that the working hours and hourly rates used in Qualcomm’s claims were “manifestly excessive.”

Qualcomm will submit legislation to the European Commission in 2022 after the General Court backed the US group’s fight against a €997 million EU antitrust fine issued in 2018 and ordered the regulator to pay Qualcomm’s legal costs. I did.

However, the Commission objected that the amount should have been €405,315, as against the €12,041,755.80 requested by the company.

Qualcomm said the legal provisions were determined based on the importance and complexity of the case and the amount of work undertaken by the 19-person team.

In a Feb. 29 ruling posted on the court’s website, the justices rejected the U.S. company’s argument, saying the court is only interested in the total number of hours required for the proceedings, regardless of the number of lawyers involved in the case.

They argue that no hourly rate was presented in relation to specific, clearly identified work and that the significant amount of research and analysis and numerous documents submitted to the court were not sufficient to substantiate the amount claimed or that work necessarily occurred in connection with it. said.

“The applicant’s request is insufficiently substantiated and is clearly excessive both in terms of the amount charged, the number of hours worked and the relevant hourly rate,” the judge said.

The court set the total fees, including costs for law firm Quinn Emanuel, at €754,190 and €31,667.54 for economic consultancy Compass Lexecon/FTI.

The case is T‑235/18 DEP Qualcomm v. European Commission.

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