Throughout this week, a jury has been sitting in Delaware to consider a lawsuit by the British holding Arm against its client Qualcomm, which was accused of misuse of licensed technologies after the deal to buy Nuvia in 2021. The court returned an acquittal, which will allow Qualcomm to continue producing Snapdragon X processors.
Image source: Qualcomm Technologies
This week’s court hearings revealed that Arm revoked Nuvia’s licenses following Qualcomm’s purchase of the startup in 2021, and offered the new business owner a new contract, but Qualcomm considered the existing contract with Arm sufficient to continue its processor development activities. and using Nuvia’s developments. The Arm holding disputed this interpretation, and as a protest not only filed a lawsuit, but also demanded that Qualcomm stop producing and selling processors using Nuvia’s developments.
For Qualcomm, Snapdragon X processors, created using the experience of Nuvia and its former specialists, are of particular importance, since with their help it is going to develop the PC market. Qualcomm representatives tried to prove in court that only one percent of the Oryon family cores underlying these processors were created using Arm developments. In turn, the British holding insisted that these cores use slightly modified Arm intellectual property.
From the testimony of Qualcomm management during court hearings this week, it also became known that the company expected to save up to $1.4 billion annually on Arm licensing fees by gaining access to Nuvia’s developments, so it allocated a similar amount to purchase the company in 2021 without much hesitation. True, this estimate was made on the assumption that Qualcomm processors would capture a significant share of the PC market, which has not yet happened. Arm itself estimated its annual losses from Qualcomm’s demarche at a more modest $50 million.
The jury yesterday acquitted Qualcomm of this Arm claim, which will allow the first of the companies to continue supplying processors of the Snapdragon X family and create new ones, but Nuvia’s actions in this situation did not receive a final assessment by the jury. For this reason, new court hearings may take place in the future, especially since Arm is determined to re-file the claim. News of this outcome caused Qualcomm shares to rise 2.6%, while Arm shares fell about 2%.