Arm has taken its feud with Qualcomm one step further, two years after filing a lawsuit against its former close partner. According to bloombergThe British semiconductor company has revoked an architecture license that allowed Qualcomm to use its intellectual property and standards in chip designs. As the media outlet points out, Qualcomm, like many other chip makers, uses Arm’s computer code, which its chips need to run software such as operating systems. Arm reportedly sent Qualcomm a 60-day notice of cancellation. Failure to reach an agreement by then could have major implications for both companies’ finances and Qualcomm’s operations.
The SoftBank-backed chipmaker sued Qualcomm in 2022 after the company acquired one of its other licensees, a company called Nuvia. Arm claimed the U.S. company failed to obtain the necessary permissions to transfer Nuvia’s license. Nuvia therefore breached the agreement and terminated the license, Arm explained in the lawsuit. Qualcomm has been using technology developed by Nuvia in chips designed for AI PCs, including Microsoft and HP. However, Arm wants the company to stop using technology developed by Nuvia and retire any Arm-based technology developed prior to the acquisition.
Qualcomm will have to stop selling most of its chips, which account for $39 billion in revenue. bloomberg If the company does not resolve the issue within the next 60 days, the US chipmaker appears to believe this is a tactic to threaten Arm’s business and gain higher royalties. bloomberg and Financial Times: “This is the same with Arm: a more baseless threat designed to strong-arm long-time partners, disrupt performance-leading CPUs, and increase royalty rates regardless of the broad rights under the architecture license.” Qualcomm also accused Arm of attempting to obstruct the legal process, called the grounds for terminating the license “completely unfounded” and said it was confident “our rights under our agreement with Arm will be confirmed.”
Meanwhile, an Arm spokesperson said: “Qualcomm’s repeated material breaches of the Arm License Agreement leave Arm with no choice but to take formal action to require Qualcomm to cure the breaches or face termination of the agreement. This is necessary to protect Arm’s incomparable termination.” Arm is fully prepared for the December trial and is confident the court will rule in Arm’s favor.”
Update, October 23, 2024, 11:33 PM ET: This story has been updated to add a statement from Arm.
