PC Panasonic Corp.

The European Commission Tuesday closed a four-year antitrust investigation into U.S. chipset maker Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) without levying a fine or absolving the company.

The commission, the European Union's regulatory arm, said companies that objected to Qualcomm's pricing for its technology have all withdrawn their complaints or are planning to withdraw them.

"The commission committed time and resources to this investigation in order to assess a complex body of evidence, but has not as yet reached formal conclusions," the regulator said in a statement. It added that without complaints about Qualcomm's pricing practices, it wouldn't be "appropriate to invest further resources in this case."

In 2005, six technology companies--Broadcom Corp. (BRCOM), Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson (ERIC), NEC Corp. (NIPNF), Nokia Corp. (NOK), Panasonic Mobile Communications Co. and Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN)--told that commission that Qualcomm's royalty fees for licensing patents were excessive and that its tactics have kept other companies from entering the market for chips used in mobile phones.

Qualcomm, based in San Diego, makes chips for cell phones and charges royalties to handset makers and chip makers that use technology covered by its patents. The fees have long been unpopular among competing chip makers, who argue that they give Qualcomm chips a price advantage competitors can't easily match.

-By Adam Cohen, Dow Jones Newswires; +322 741 1486; adam.cohen@dowjones.com

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