Jury finds Arm breached Qualcomm license, awards just $2

A federal jury in Delaware found on Tuesday, Oct. 13, that Arm Holdings ↗ 0.06% breached its architectural license agreement with Qualcomm ↗ 1.39%. The jury also found Arm intentionally interfered with Qualcomm's business relationship with Meta Platforms ↗ 2.63%. It awarded Qualcomm only $2 in nominal damages, according to court records cited by Reuters.reuters+1

Both companies claimed vindication. Qualcomm won on liability, while Arm pointed to the small award and to the claims it won as proof of its case. The verdict is the latest chapter in a dispute that has soured a long partnership between two major names in mobile chips.

Competing readings of the verdict

Qualcomm called the outcome a win for innovation and competition. "We are pleased that the jury determined Arm violated its enduring Architectural agreement," the company said. A Qualcomm spokesperson said the jury found Arm intended to disrupt Qualcomm's business.seekingalpha+2

Arm said the jury had ruled for it on four claims and awarded "only one dollar in damages on each of Qualcomm's other two claims." The company said the verdict "confirms that Arm operated in good faith under its technology license agreement and its award of only two dollars confirms the merit of Arm's arguments in the case." Arm also accused Qualcomm of trying "to deprive Arm of billions of dollars under our license agreements."marketscreener

Arm shares fell after the verdict, giving up earlier gains, according to Investing.com. Qualcomm shares rose.aol+1

What Qualcomm alleged

The verdict followed a five-day trial last week. Qualcomm accused Arm of withholding software patches and chip-testing tools it needed to verify its custom Oryon CPU cores. It also said Arm broke a pricing provision meant to keep Qualcomm's royalties within 10% of Arm's lowest available design pricing.investing+1

Qualcomm further alleged that Arm deliberately leaked a 2024 warning letter threatening to terminate its license to Bloomberg. Qualcomm said the leak hurt its reputation and cost it about $170 million in a potential deal with Meta. The license agreement runs through 2033.investing

A relationship that broke down

This was the second trial between the companies in two years. Reuters said both trials reflect a falling-out that followed SoftBank Group's purchase of Arm in 2016 and Arm's move from only licensing chip technology to selling chips of its own.aol

The first case began in 2022, when Arm sued Qualcomm over its $1.4 billion purchase of chip startup Nuvia. In December 2024, a jury found that Qualcomm had not breached Nuvia's license. In September 2025, a federal judge upheld that verdict, rejected Arm's remaining claim and denied its request for a new trial. Arm has appealed.qualcomm+1

According to GuruFocus, the current case is expected to continue on other issues in the coming weeks.gurufocus