EU: European Commission antitrust lawyer joins Apple

A key lawyer in the European Commission’s 2004 antitrust case against Microsoft has reported joined Apple.

According to reports, Per Hellstrom has made the move from the European Commission’s competition unit to Apple as the technology conglomerate’s senior director for competition and government affairs, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The Swedish lawyer joins the company as the Commission continues to watch Apple and other tech firms for allegations of unfair patent licensing fees and anticompetitive patent litigation. The Commission is currently probing Samsung’s use of law suits against Apple on allegations of patent infringement.

Despite the career move, reports say one EU official says Hellstrom’s new job may only last a year, as he reportedly requested a year of paid time off for the new position. But, the source said, the Commission would only allow it if the lawyer did not deal with any case he has worked or is working on while at Apple, and that he is prohibited from lobbying the Commission on any situation that could become a conflict of interest.

Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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