Qualcomm Defeats Arm’s Claim Over Chip Design License Breach

  • US jury finds Qualcomm didn’t violate terms of agreement
  • Delaware jurors were unable to agree on Nuvia’s alleged breach

Qualcomm headquarters in San Diego, California.

Photographer: Ariana Drehsler/Bloomberg
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Qualcomm Inc. prevailed at trial against Arm Holdings Plc’s claim that it breached a license for chip technology that the world’s largest maker of mobile-phone processors acquired when it bought a startup in 2021.

Jurors in federal court in Delaware concluded Friday that Qualcomm didn’t violate the terms of an agreement covering Arm’s chip products acquired in a $1.4 billion purchase of Nuvia Inc. by incorporating the technology in its chips without paying a higher licensing rate. Jurors weren’t able to agree on whether Nuvia breached the license and US District Judge Maryellen Noreika said that issue could be retried at a later date.