Qualcomm Defeats Arm in Court (Updated)

Updated: Qualcomm and Arm Holdings have now provided me with statements. –Paul

A federal jury determined that Qualcomm did not violate Arm Holdings licensing agreements when it purchased Nuvia and made the Snapdragon X chips.

“We are pleased with today’s decision,” Qualcomm general counsel Ann Chaplin 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. We will continue to develop performance-leading, world-class products that benefit consumers worldwide, with our incredible Oryon ARM-compliant custom CPUs.”

“We are disappointed that the jury was unable to reach consensus across the claims,” an Arm spokesperson said. “We intend to seek a retrial due to the jury’s deadlock. From the outset, our top priority has been to protect Arm’s IP and the unparalleled ecosystem we have built with our valued partners over more than 30 years. As always, we are committed to fostering innovation in our rapidly evolving market and serving our partners while advancing the future of computing.”

The jurors were told to determine whether Arm proved by a preponderance of evidence that Qualcomm breached the terms of its licensing agreements. They said that Arm did not meet this bar, answering, “No.”

They were also told to determine whether Qualcomm proved by a preponderance of evidence that its processor chip designs acquired with Nuvia were covered by Qualcomm’s existing Arm licenses. To this, the jurors answered, “Yes.”

The jurors were unable to determine whether Nuvia, which was acquired by Qualcomm in 2021 for $1.4 billion, had violated Arm’s licenses in designing its chips.

You can read more about the incidents leading up to this case in RISCy Arm v. Qualcomm Trial Begins. But in prevailing in court, Qualcomm can continue selling its Snapdragon X processors to PC makers as well as upcoming new chips for smartphones that will appear in new devices as soon as next month.