Two years after filing a lawsuit against his former close partner, Arm has taken his feud with Qualcomm to the next level. According to Bloomberg, the British semiconductor company has revoked the architecture license that allowed Qualcomm to use its intellectual property and chip design standards. As the news outlet notes, Qualcomm, like many other chipmakers, uses Arm’s computer code, which the chips need to run software such as operating systems. Arm has reportedly given Qualcomm 60 days’ notice of termination, but if an agreement is not reached by then, it could have a significant impact on both companies’ finances and Qualcomm’s operations.
The SoftBank-backed chipmaker sued Qualcomm in 2022 after Qualcomm acquired one of its other licensees, a company called Nubia. Arm argued that the U.S. company did not have the necessary permits to transfer the Nubia license. As a result, Nuvia breached the agreement and terminated its license, Arm said in its lawsuit. Qualcomm has been using technology developed by Nuvia in chips designed for AI PCs from companies like Microsoft and HP. But Arm is asking Nuvia to stop using technology developed by Nuvia and destroy all Arm-based technology developed before the acquisition.
If the companies don’t resolve the issue within the next 60 days, Qualcomm will have to stop selling most of its chips, which account for $39 billion in revenue, according to Bloomberg. The U.S. chipmaker appears to believe this is a tactic by Arm to threaten its business and obtain higher royalties, with a company spokesperson telling Bloomberg and the Financial Times: Ta. They are interfering with our long-time partner’s performance-leading CPUs and increasing their royalty rates without regard to their extensive rights under our architecture license. ” Qualcomm also accused Arm of trying to obstruct the legal process, called the reasons for the license termination “totally baseless,” and said it was confident that “its rights under its contract with Arm will be affirmed.” said.
Meanwhile, an Arm spokesperson said, “Following Qualcomm’s repeated material violations of Arm’s license agreement, Arm is required to take formal action to require Qualcomm to correct the violations or otherwise “This is necessary to protect our unique product.” The ecosystem that Arm and its valued partners have built over more than 30 years is fully prepared for trial in December, and we are confident that the court will rule in Arm’s favor. ”
Update, October 23, 2024, 11:33 PM ET: This story has been updated to add Arm’s statement.
