EU accuses Qualcomm of using market power to hinder rivals

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union antitrust regulators charged Qualcomm on Tuesday with abusing its market power to thwart rivals, putting the world's number one mobile chipset maker at risk of a hefty fine. The accusations by the European Commission are the latest antitrust problems for the company as regulators in the United States, China, Japan and South Korea look into its licensing model and its dominant patents in mobile networks and devices. Qualcomm, which competes with rival MediaTek Inc , said the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission had also opened an investigation into its patent licensing deals.