What Happened Between Qualcomm & Arm

For years, Arm and Qualcomm have been key players in the tech world. Arm designs the blueprints for chips that power many of the world's devices, while Qualcomm builds and sells those chips, especially for smartphones. Their relationship has usually been a collaborative one, with Qualcomm using Arm's designs under a license agreement.

However, things started heating up when Qualcomm acquired a company called Nuvia. Nuvia was developing its own high-performance cores based on Arm's architecture, and Qualcomm wanted to use these Nuvia-designed cores in its PC chipsets. Arm wasn't happy about this and claimed that Nuvia's license did not cover such usage by Qualcomm.

So, Arm took Qualcomm to court. They hoped to stop Qualcomm from using these Nuvia-designed cores until a new agreement (with presumably higher fees) was reached. Unfortunately for Arm, the jury couldn't agree on whether Nuvia had breached its license agreement with Arm, which meant no immediate win for Arm.

The court case did leave an opening for a re-trial on this specific issue of whether Nuvia broke its license terms. If Arm wins this potential re-trial, they could get damages, but it seems unlikely that Qualcomm's right to use these cores in its PC chipsets would be revoked.

During the trial, Qualcomm's lawyers also revealed an interesting document. It was a strategy paper from Arm's CEO suggesting that Arm might start building its own chips, which would be a big shift from their traditional model of just licensing designs to other companies.

Overall, the case showcased Arm's ambitions but also highlighted the challenges they face. The tech world is watching closely to see what happens next between these two giants.

The jury ruled in favor of Qualcomm on the key points. They found that Qualcomm's use of Nuvia's technology in its PC chipsets was properly licensed under their agreement with Arm. However, the jury couldn't reach a unanimous decision on whether Nuvia itself breached its license with Arm, resulting in a mistrial for that part of the case.

So, while Qualcomm won this round, Arm is considering a re-trial to resolve the remaining issue. It's still an ongoing saga!