Intel Corp. said on Wednesday that the allegations of the Federal Trade Commission were baseless and that the company competed fairly and lawfully. Moreover, the company said that its actions have benefitted consumers.

“This case could have, and should have, been settled. Settlement talks had progressed very far but stalled when the FTC insisted on unprecedented remedies – including the restrictions on lawful price competition and enforcement of intellectual property rights set forth in the complaint – that would make it impossible for Intel to conduct business,” said Doug Melamed, Intel senior vice president and general counsel.

The world’s largest maker of chips said that the highly competitive microprocessor industry, of which Intel is a key part, has kept innovation robust and prices declining at a faster rate than any other industry. Moreover, Intel accused FTC of setting new rules for business conduct, which are, according to the chip manufacturer, anti-consumer.

“The FTC's case is misguided. It is based largely on claims that the FTC added at the last minute and has not investigated. In addition, it is explicitly not based on existing law but is instead intended to make new rules for regulating business conduct. These new rules would harm consumers by reducing innovation and raising prices," a statement by Intel reads.

Intel is fully confident that it will be able to win the case against FTC and accuses FTC of spending taxpayers’ money on a case it had not completely investigated.

“The FTC's rush to file this case will cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars to litigate issues that the FTC has not fully investigated. It is the normal practice of antitrust enforcement agencies to investigate the facts before filing suit. The commission did not do that in this case," added Mr. Melamed.

Tags: Intel, FTC