Winner of the 'Trial of the Century' is US Qualcomm... Victory in Chip License Lawsuit Against Arm

American semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm has won a lawsuit against British semiconductor design company Arm over chip licensing.

According to Bloomberg and other sources on the 20th (local time), a Delaware federal court jury ruled in favor of Qualcomm in the chip intellectual property infringement lawsuit between Qualcomm and Arm.

The jury stated, "Qualcomm did not violate the contract terms related to Arm's chip products acquired through the $1.4 billion acquisition of 'Nuvia'."

It means that Qualcomm integrating Nuvia's technology into its own chips without paying higher license fees is not a violation.

The lawsuit between the two companies began when Qualcomm acquired Nuvia, a chip design company holding an Arm license, in 2021. The issue was whether Qualcomm could use the Arm technology that Nuvia had been using.

Arm filed a lawsuit in August 2022, claiming that although Qualcomm acquired Nuvia, it could not use Nuvia's license without Arm's approval and must renegotiate the license agreement. Qualcomm responded with a countersuit.

Qualcomm, relying on Nuvia's technology to enter the computer processor market, argued to the jury that it holds a separate general license covering Arm technology, and the jury sided with Qualcomm.

Qualcomm is one of Arm's largest customers, and the two companies have been long-term partners. However, as competitors in the computer processor industry, conflicts have intensified.

In October, Arm notified Qualcomm that it would revoke the license allowing Qualcomm to design chips using its intellectual property.

With most global semiconductor manufacturers relying on Arm's architecture for chip design, Qualcomm has declared its departure from Arm.

Qualcomm's official headquarters is in Delaware, and the Delaware federal court is known as a central venue for U.S. patent infringement and licensing lawsuits.

In after-hours trading on the New York Stock Exchange that day, Qualcomm's stock rose about 2%, while Arm's stock fell more than 1%.