US firm files complaint about IBM

BBC

20 January 2009

US computer company T3 Technologies has said it has filed a complaint against IBM with the European Commission.

It accuses IBM, the world's largest technology services company, of "abusing its monopoly power in the mainframe industry".

Mainframes are high-end computers used mainly by large organizations.

T3 said IBM had tied the sale of its operating system to its mainframe hardware. IBM declined to comment as it had not seen the complaint.

"As IBM has not seen any complaint it is inappropriate to comment on specifics relating thereto," a spokesman said.

T3 also contends that IBM withheld patent licences and certain intellectual property.

"Only IBM now offers IBM-compatible mainframes and... controls over 99% of all existing IBM-compatible mainframes in use today," T3 said in a statement on its website.

In 2007, US software firm Platform Solution filed a formal complain with the European Commission, accusing IBM of refusing to license third parties and refusing to supply interface information on mainframes.

But the case was dropped when PSI agreed to be bought by IBM.

Copyright 2009