Report: Intel faces new EU antitrust charges

Intel is expected to face new antitrust charges from European regulators that focus on the chip giant's marketing and sales practices, according to a report Tuesday night on The Wall Street Journal's Web site, citing unidentified people familiar with matter.

The new charges, which could come as early as Thursday, allege that Intel offered inducements to European retailers in return for not buying processors from rival Advanced Micro Devices, the paper reported.

"We are continuing to cooperate and really don't know what the commission will do," Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy told the paper when asked about the possibility of new charges. "We believe we operate within the law."

The expected charges are the latest chapter in Intel's antitrust battle with regulators in the U.S. and abroad.

In June, it was reported that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission had opened a formal investigation into the chipmaker's business practices.

Intel has also been under intense scrutiny in other parts of the world, especially in Europe, South Korea, and Japan, but it has faced little objection to its business practices in its native United States in recent years, other than in a recent investigation launched at the state level by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.