Arm lawsuit ends in mistrial with Qualcomm securing key win

By Tom Hals

(Reuters) -Arm Holdings’ lawsuit against Qualcomm (NASDAQ:) ended in a mistrial on Friday, with a jury delivering a mixed verdict that found for Qualcomm on a crucial issue, saying Qualcomm had properly licensed its central processor chips.

Arm’s shares were down 1.8% in extended trading after the news, and Qualcomm’s shares were up 1.8%.

The outcome means the case could be tried again in the future. Judge Maryellen Noreika, who presided over the case in U.S. federal court in Delaware, encouraged Arm and Qualcomm to mediate their dispute.

“I don’t think either side had a clear victory or would have had a clear victory if this case is tried again,” Noreika told the parties.

After more than nine hours of deliberations over two days, the eight-person jury in U.S. federal court could not reach a unanimous verdict on the question of whether Nuvia, a startup that Qualcomm purchased for $1.4 billion in 2021, breached the terms of its license with Arm.

But the jury found that Qualcomm did not breach Nuvia’s license with Arm.

The jury also found that Qualcomm’s chips created using Nuvia technology, which have been central to Qualcomm’s push into the personal computer market, are properly licensed under its own agreement with Arm, clearing the way for Qualcomm to continue selling them.

“The jury has vindicated Qualcomm’s right to innovate and affirmed that all the Qualcomm products at issue in the case are protected by Qualcomm’s contract with Arm,” Qualcomm said in a statement.

Arm did not immediately return Reuters requests for comment.

“My biggest worry was what happens to the future roadmap if they no longer have access to Nuvia (computing) cores,” Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said. “At this point, that risk is a lot closer to being off the table.”