Qualcomm trial against Arm opens in Delaware over royalties, test tools and V10 licensing

Qualcomm’s lawsuit against Arm has entered a five-day jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, according to court disclosures in case 1:24-cv-00490. Qualcomm alleges that Arm failed to provide chip testing tools required under their license agreements and leaked a 2024 threat letter about terminating a key licensing deal, which Qualcomm says damaged its chip partnership talks with Meta Platforms. As part of the case, Qualcomm is seeking an unusual remedy that could let it stop paying Arm royalties for as long as five years, with the amount at stake potentially reaching billions of dollars. Arm has denied the allegations and argued that Qualcomm has not shown actual harm. In parallel, Judge Maryellen Noreika is also set to hear a bench trial on whether Arm negotiated in good faith over a license for its next-generation V10 instruction set architecture. The dispute adds another layer to the long-running tension between the two companies following Qualcomm’s 2021 acquisition of Nuvia.