Qualcomm-Arm Jury Deliberates Without Verdict After Five-Day Contract Trial

A federal jury in Wilmington, Delaware, had deliberated for about four hours as of Friday, October 9, without reaching a verdict in Qualcomm's contract lawsuit against Arm Holdings, according to Reuters. Jurors are due to resume on Tuesday after a five-day trial before U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, the second courtroom clash between the two companies in two years.

What the jury is weighing

Qualcomm accuses Arm of breaching their licensing agreements and of deliberately undermining some of its dealings with Meta Platforms. Its main claims, as reported:

• Arm withheld software patches and tools for its processor designs
• Arm violated an agreement meant to ensure Qualcomm paid within 10% of the lowest price Arm charges for its designs
• Arm leaked a 2024 letter to Bloomberg alleging Qualcomm was in breach of a key license agreement, in an effort to hurt its Meta business

Arm says Qualcomm was not harmed and describes the claims as an attempt to gain leverage in licensing negotiations. Arm attorney Gregg LoCascio told jurors Qualcomm was "not harmed in the least."

The royalty question

A separate issue could be worth billions of dollars. Qualcomm has asked Judge Noreika to rule that, if Arm is found to have breached the contract, a clause lets Qualcomm stop paying Arm royalties for up to five years. The judge has not ruled, and Arm argues that the royalty penalty is unenforceable.

A bench trial on whether Arm has negotiated in good faith over new versions of its architecture was also heard, and a decision on it may come well after the jury verdict.

Context

Qualcomm's license for Arm's architecture runs until 2033, but the dispute centers on whether the companies can agree on terms for newer versions. Qualcomm lawyer Karen Dunn called the case "very serious" for the company, which relies on Arm designs across its chip business.

A separate Arm suit over Qualcomm's acquisition of Nuvia ended in a jury verdict for Qualcomm in an earlier trial; Arm has appealed that judgment.