A Delaware jury sided with Qualcomm in its long-running dispute with Arm on Friday afternoon. This was a unique case in which ARM Holdings sued one of its best customers.
The falling-out between the partners arose in 2022 when Arm claimed that Qualcomm violated the terms of a licensing agreement it had with Nuvia, a company that Qualcomm bought in 2021 for $1.4 billion. Qualcomm countered that the technology that was transferred from Nuvia was covered under its own license agreement with Arm. The jury agreed.
This was a big win for Qualcomm. The Nuvia technology now underlies some of its most important chips for smartphones, PCs, and cars. Had Qualcomm lost, it would have had to negotiate a new license agreement and Arm would have had all the leverage in those talks.
For Arm, the decision may call into question its recent, more aggressive posture toward customers. Beyond suing Qualcomm, Arm has doubled prices for new technology. There are also reports that Arm will make its own chips, for the first time competing with its customers.
Arm shares were down about 2% in after-hours Friday trading. Qualcomm stock is up 2%.
“We are pleased with today’s decision,” said Ann Chaplin, general counsel for Qualcomm. “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.”
Arm didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment.
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