ARM Withdraws License Termination Attempt Against Qualcomm Over Nuvia-Designed Oryon Cores
Qualcomm’s use of in-house Oryon cores, originally developed by Nuvia, sparked a legal battle with British chip designer ARM, which claimed the arrangement violated existing licensing agreements. Following an inconclusive trial and a judge’s encouragement for both sides to compromise, ARM has now withdrawn its notice of breach and relinquished any immediate plan to terminate Qualcomm’s architecture license.
A Long-Running Licensing Standoff
ARM vs. Qualcomm: ARM argued that Nuvia breached licensing terms when Qualcomm acquired Nuvia and integrated the Oryon core designs into its chips.
Inconclusive Trial: An eight-person jury failed to reach a definitive verdict, prompting Judge Maryellen Noreika to urge both parties to settle rather than pursue another lengthy court battle.
According to Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, ARM has since “withdrawn its October 22, 2024 notice of breach, and indicated that it has no current plan to terminate the Qualcomm architecture license agreement.” The reversal suggests some form of private agreement may have been reached—perhaps a renegotiated licensing fee.
Future Implications
With this dispute resolved (at least for now), Qualcomm is free to continue leveraging its Oryon core designs. Competitors like MediaTek may explore similar strategies if they see the potential for advanced custom core development with fewer legal hurdles. Meanwhile, industry observers await to see if new licensing terms will reshape ARM’s relationships with other partners going forward.
Which do you find more significant for future mobile chip designs—Qualcomm’s right to produce Oryon-based cores without renewed legal risks, or ARM’s overarching control of CPU architectures? Share your thoughts below!
