Qualcomm may be on the receiving end of an EU investigation stemming from a four-year-old complaint from a rival, Reuters reported.

The complaint, made by modem company Icera (which was subsequently acquired by Nvidia), apparently alleged that the US chip giant had used “patent-related incentives and exclusionary pricing of chipsets” to discourage customers from doing business with Icera.

At the time of the original Icera complaint, it was noted that Qualcomm had just come through a four-year probe by Europe’s antitrust regulators.

It was said that while the issue had slipped down the agenda, a recent EC fine against chipmaker Intel for abuse of its dominant position had led to new interest in the Qualcomm case.

The new comes at a bad time for Qualcomm (not that there is a particularly good time for a regulatory probe): the company’s practices in China are also in the spotlight, leading to ongoing negotiations with the National Development and Reform Commission.

And it was also reported that South Korea’s authorities had been in talks with their Chinese counterparts, having already taken action against Qualcomm once in the not-too-distant past.

Reuters said that the EC “may open a case after the summer”, citing an unnamed source.