A U.S. jury ruled that Arm violated its architecture license agreement with Qualcomm and intentionally disrupted its relationship with Meta. However, the damages amount to a mere $2. The judge may allow Qualcomm to forgo paying royalties for five years, which could amount to a significant sum in the tens of millions.
Both parties are claiming victory following a five-day trial in the U.S. state of Delaware. Qualcomm calls the ruling “a victory for innovation and competition.” Arm states that the $2 “confirms the merit of Arm’s arguments in the case.”
The jury ruled in Qualcomm’s favor on two of the six claims presented. According to the jury, ARM violated the Architecture License Agreement (ALA). This ALA allows Qualcomm to design its own processors based on ARM’s instruction set. This distinguishes it from x86, for which only Intel and AMD can actually manufacture chips.
In addition, Arm intentionally disrupted the business relationship between Qualcomm and Meta. However, the jury awarded only one dollar per claim. This is not the outcome Qualcomm was seeking when it went to court earlier this year. The company accused Arm of withholding verification materials from the Arm Compliance Kit (ACK) and software patches. These were necessary to validate its own CPUs. Arm was also alleged to have refused to renew licenses for the Cortex-A720, Cortex-A520, and Cortex-M55 under “reasonable” terms. On those points regarding the Technology License Agreement (TLA), specifically concerning Arm’s own Cortex cores, the court ruled in Arm’s favor.
Leaked termination notice
A significant portion of the complaint stems from October 2024. At that time, Arm threatened to terminate Qualcomm’s architecture license, after which news of the termination was reported in the media. According to Qualcomm, this disrupted negotiations with Meta and other customers. Arm denies any wrongdoing and claims that Qualcomm is using the case to evade billions in royalties.
The case follows a dispute centered on the acquisition of Nuvia. Arm argued that Qualcomm was not permitted to use the Nuvia designs under its own, cheaper license. In December 2024, a jury ruled that Qualcomm had not infringed any license. In September 2025, the judge dismissed Arm’s final claim. Qualcomm may therefore continue to use the Oryon cores, which are used in the Snapdragon X Elite and derivatives for Arm laptops, among other devices.
Five years without royalties?
The legal battle will undoubtedly warrant another update. Judge Maryellen Noreika has yet to determine whether the ALA violation entitles Qualcomm to withhold royalty payments to Arm for five years. That could cost Arm hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars. She will also decide whether Arm breached its duty to negotiate future licensing terms in good faith. Both parties may appeal an unfavorable ruling.