According to reports, Qualcomm today counter-suit ARM, ARM previously accused Qualcomm of violating the licensing agreement and trademark and had no legitimate basis.
Qualcomm wants a federal judge in Delaware to find that the company did not breach ARM’s licensing contract as part of Qualcomm’s $1.4 billion acquisition of chip startup Nuvia, court documents show.
The dispute between the two sides centers on the licensing of chip designs between ARM and Nuvia. Last month, ARM filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm and Nuvia, a startup acquired by Qualcomm last year for $1.4 billion that designs chips based on Arm technology, alleging that the two companies violated their licensing agreement with ARM.
ARM also claims that Qualcomm failed to obtain this license, even after months of negotiations. Moreover, Qualcomm also implanted Nuvia’s custom CPU designs into its own chip line without permission.
Qualcomm’s lawyers said that ARM’s goal is to “use this baseless lawsuit as leverage to force Qualcomm to renegotiate the financial terms of the license agreement that the two parties have been working on for a long time.”
Qualcomm has been one of ARM’s largest customers in the past. The case has garnered significant attention in the technology industry as Qualcomm and ARM are two of the most influential chip companies in the world.
Qualcomm acquired Nuvia last year to strengthen its technology and enable it to develop more powerful chips. It’s also part of Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amo’s broader strategy to reduce Qualcomm’s reliance on the smartphone industry and win share in the laptop chip and server processor markets.
Qualcomm’s lawyers say ARM’s lawsuit is designed to thwart Qualcomm’s plans. Qualcomm said in its countersuit filing today, “With this lawsuit, ARM is clearly demonstrating to the market that it will act recklessly and opportunistically as a negotiating tactic that will stifle product development and innovation.”
