By filing an appeal in the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, - Europe's topmost appeals court - the world's largest chip maker, Intel, has challenged the European Commission's (EC) record €1.06 billion fine and its May 13 ruling that the company had abused its dominance in the computer-processor market by giving discounts to computer makers using Intel chips.

The Intel appeal - which was filed on Wednesday - resembles other appeals that the Santa Clara, California-based company has filed in similar cases in the US and South Korea.

Talking about the appeal, Robert Manetta, an Intel spokesman in London, said: "We believe that our policies and practices have always been legal and aboveboard. That is why we are taking our case to court."

The spokesman also confirmed that the company intends levying a human rights abuse allegation on the EC, during the course of its arguments against the EC handling of the case. According to Intel, the EC "refused to look at some of the evidence and in some cases refused to get some other evidence that was available" while investigating the case.

It was after an eight-year investigation that the EC ruled against Intel, saying that the company resorted to the undisclosed rebates to computer manufacturers essentially to thwart the business of rival chip maker Advanced Micro Devices.