Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is not having a particularly good week. On the heels of being sued by the University of Wisconsin-Madison for patent violation on its Core 2 Duo processors, the company has been raided by the European Union on suspicion of violating antitrust practices.

The raid was conducted by the European Competition Commission and included some retailers selling Intel products as well. A spokesperson for the Commission, Jonathan Todd, said "Commission officials carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of a manufacturer of central processing units and a number of personal computer retailers [because of suspicions that the companies] may have violated [European Community] Treaty rules on restrictive business practices and/or abuse of a dominant market position."

Though this is a breaking story with few substantive details, Intel spokesperson Chuck Mulloy confirmed the raids saying “There has been a raid on our offices in Munich. As is our normal practice, we are cooperating with authorities."

A raid on a legitimate business enterprise for antitrust reasons may seem extreme by U.S. standards, but the European Union has greater powers and is far more active than antitrust regulators here. The Competition Commission can fine companies up to 10% of their global revenue.

Examination of Intel by the Commission began in 2001 when Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) sent a complaint alleging Intel was abusing its dominant market position. Besides these raids, Intel was already facing a hearing in Brussels later this month regarding allegations that it sold processors below cost in an attempt to bully AMD out of the market.

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