The jury unanimously ruled whether Qualcomm violated its Licensing agreement with Arm By using a common kernel developed by Nuvia SnapdragonX. According to CRN, Arm can request a retrial, which is what the company plans to do.
“We are disappointed that the jury was unable to reach consensus on these charges,” Arm wrote in a statement. “As the jury deadlocked, we intend to seek a retrial. From the outset, our top priority has been to protect Arm’s intellectual property rights and The unparalleled ecosystem we have built with valued partners over more than 30 years remains committed to catalyzing innovation in our rapidly evolving markets and serving our partners while advancing the future of computing.
Yesterday, Qualcomm won a legal case against Arm, accusing it of violating a license agreement related to the Snapdragon X processor, which uses the Oryon core originally developed by Nuvia under a different license agreement from Arm for data center processors.
IP developers are unhappy that Nuvia’s technology is being used in client devices. Additionally, Arm claimed that Nuvia’s licensing terms did not automatically transfer with its acquisition by Qualcomm in 2021 and requested that these terms be renegotiated. Qualcomm argued that its existing Arm instruction set architecture license covers technology developed by its subsidiaries, including Nuvia. Arm demanded that the Nuvia design be abandoned, but Qualcomm did not do so and launched Snapdragon X processors for client PCs.
Gerard Williams III, the lead developer of the Oryon core and a former Apple engineer, confirmed that the design contains less than 1% Arm technology. This supports Qualcomm’s position that Snapdragon X processors comply with its licensing agreement, allowing continued development and sale of the chips.
While the jury found Qualcomm not guilty of wrongdoing, they could not reach an agreement on whether Nuvia violated the terms of its license with Arm. This resulted in Arm intending to conduct a retrial. Typically, a retrial starts from the beginning, with evidence and witness testimony being presented anew. Essentially, Arm hopes to convince a new jury with new evidence and testimony that Qualcomm and Nuvia violated their licensing agreement with the British company.