Arm Holdings Plc is set to cancel a crucial architectural license agreement with Qualcomm Inc., which allows the U.S.-based company to design its own chips using Arm’s intellectual property, according to a Bloomberg News report on Tuesday.
Arm has reportedly issued Qualcomm a 60-day notice to terminate the licensing deal, a significant move in the ongoing legal clash between the two tech giants. The license in question permits Qualcomm to develop custom chips based on Arm’s widely-used chip architecture.
Neither Arm nor Qualcomm has publicly commented on the matter. The legal dispute between the companies, which began in 2022, is scheduled to proceed in a Delaware federal court this December.
The conflict stems from Qualcomm’s acquisition of Nuvia, a startup founded by former Apple chip engineers, for $1.4 billion in 2021. Arm alleges that Qualcomm failed to negotiate a new licensing agreement after the purchase of Nuvia, a key factor in the lawsuit. Arm, owned by Japan’s SoftBank Group, is arguing that Qualcomm’s continued use of its technology breaches their agreement.
This escalating legal showdown could have broad implications for the semiconductor industry, as both companies hold pivotal roles in the global chip supply chain.
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