Qualcomm, Arm head to court again in high-stakes contract dispute

The payments could be worth billions of dollars. However, Judge Maryellen Noreika is considering whether to strike that provision from the contract, which could limit Qualcomm to seeking a smaller amount of damages. Arm, owned by Japan's Soft.

Bank Group, has denied breaching the contract and argued that it did not cause damage to Qualcomm's chip deals, which it described as speculative. Arm has also argued that Qualcomm cannot seek damages over the alleged leak of the termination letter because Qualcomm itself leaked non-public details of antitrust investigations involving Arm to the media.

The five-day jury trial marks another stage in the contentious relationship between the two companies. Arm sued Qualcomm in 2022, alleging that Qualcomm had breached its contracts. Qualcomm secured a key victory in 2024 when a jury trial ended without a verdict after jurors failed to reach agreement.

In a related bench trial, Judge Noreika will also hear arguments over whether Arm negotiated in good faith with Qualcomm for the next version of Arm's chip technology. Qualcomm's agreement with Arm runs through 2033.

Qualcomm is a major supplier of chips for Android smartphones but has expanded into other areas, including data centre chips. Arm has for decades supplied fundamental chip-design technology to Qualcomm and other chipmakers, including Nvidia.

However, Arm has increasingly become a competitor to those customers by developing and releasing chips of its own. Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, and Max Cherney and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Edwina Gibbs