Qualcomm Scores Legal Victory Against ARM’s Licensing Lawsuit

Qualcomm logo in front of Qualcomm headquarters in San Diego, California
Image Credit: JHVEPhoto/ Shutterstock
In Short
  • Qualcomm prevailed in court against ARM after the latter's lawsuit accused Qualcomm for misusing licenses after acquiring Nuvia.
  • The jury in the US District Court of Delaware voted in favor of Qualcomm for two out of three disputed questions.
  • The court, however, couldn't determine whether Nuvia was at fault for breaching the agreement with ARM.

Silicon giant Qualcomm acquired Nuvia back in 2021 but ARM took Qualcomm to court. It accused them of misusing the designs ARM licensed to Nuvia before the acquisition and threatened to cancel Qualcomm’s license. However, in the latest update, Qualcomm prevailed in court against ARM in the Nuvia design lawsuit.

The jury in the United States District Court of Delaware voted in favor of Qualcomm. As shared in this document, the answers to two out of the three questions favored Qualcomm. The final dispute was whether Nuvia was at fault for breaching the agreement with ARM which apparently put the jury in a deadlock.

snapdragon 8 elite chip placed on a phone mockup over a red background
Image Courtesy: Qualcomm

However, one of ARM’s spokespersons said that the case would be “tried again” due to jury’s deadlock. ARM’s argument is that the designs licensed to Nuvia are no longer valid, and the technology created using them should be destroyed.

In a statement to The Verge, Qualcomm’s general counsel and corporate secretary said:

The jury has vindicated Qualcomm’s right to innovate and affirmed that all the Qualcomm products at issue in the case are protected by Qualcomm’s contract with ARM.

The jury also asked Nuvia’s Co-founder Gerard Williams (via Reuters) and he said he does not believe the contract meant all of Nuvia’s work was a derivation of ARM’s technology. Williams also said that the amount of ARM technology in Nuvia constitutes less than 1%.

For those unaware, Arm filed a lawsuit against both Qualcomm and Nuvia over licensing terms in 2022, a year after Qualcomm acquired the latter. The accusations came after Qualcomm launched a custom Oryon CPU for Smartphones and Windows laptops that year.

What are your thoughts on the Qualcomm and ARM lawsuit? Who do you think is right? Let us know in the comments.

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