Qualcomm and Arm set for jury verdict in contract breach feud
QCOM•A jury is due to decide whether Arm breached licensing agreements with Qualcomm and intentionally interfered with Qualcomm’s dealings with Meta. Qualcomm says Arm withheld software patches and design tools and seeks a finding that Arm leaked a 2024 breach letter; a judge has not ruled on whether Qualcomm could stop paying royalties for five years.
1. Claims before the jury
The five-day trial is set to go to a jury on Friday, which will consider Qualcomm’s claims that Arm breached licensing agreements by withholding software patches and design tools, and violated an agreement intended to keep Qualcomm’s payments within 10% of the lowest price for Arm processor designs. Qualcomm also wants the jury to find that Arm tried to disrupt its dealings with Meta by leaking a 2024 letter alleging Qualcomm was in breach of a license agreement.
2. Royalty dispute remains open
Qualcomm asked the judge to rule before trial that a contract clause could let it stop paying royalties for five years if Arm breached the agreement. The judge has not ruled, and Arm argues that the proposed royalty penalty is unenforceable. Arm told the jury Qualcomm had not been harmed and framed the lawsuit as an effort to gain leverage in negotiations.
3. Broader licensing relationship
A related bench trial examined whether Arm is negotiating in good faith over licensing terms, with a decision potentially coming after the jury verdict. Qualcomm’s license for Arm’s computing architecture runs until 2033, and the dispute concerns whether Qualcomm can eventually agree to terms for newer versions of that architecture.
