Arm slaps Qualcomm with lawsuit over $1.4bn Nuvia acquisition

The UK chip maker has filed a lawsuit for 'breach of licensing agreements and trademark infringement'

British semiconductor company Arm is suing Qualcomm and Nuvia for breach of licence agreements and trademark infringement.

The lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware seeks specific performance of the contractual obligation to destroy certain Nuvia designs, an injunction against trademark infringement as well as fair compensation for the trademark infringement.

Qualcomm Incorporated completed its acquisition of CPU and technology design company Nuvia in March 2021.

The deal was completed through its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies and was valued at $1.4bn.

In a statement issued regarding the lawsuit, Softbank Group-owned Arm said that as an intellectual property company, it is "incumbent" on Arm to protect its rights and the rights of its ecosystem.

"Arm and its partners have invested billions of dollars to create industry-leading intellectual property," Arm said.

"Because Qualcomm attempted to transfer Nuvia licenses without Arm's consent, which is a standard restriction under Arm's license agreements, Nuvia's licenses terminated in March 2022.

"Before and after that date, Arm made multiple good faith efforts to seek a resolution. In contrast, Qualcomm has breached the terms of the Arm license agreement by continuing development under the terminated licenses.

"Arm was left with no choice other than to bring this claim against Qualcomm and Nuvia to protect our IP, our business, and to ensure customers are able to access valid Arm-based products."

According to reports from Reuters, Qualcomm has said Arm has no right to interfere with its or Nuvia's innovations.

"Arm's complaint ignores the fact that Qualcomm has broad, well-established license rights covering its custom-designed CPU's, and we are confident those rights will be affirmed," said Qualcomm general counsel, Ann Chaplin in a statement to Reuters.

Qualcomm has been contacted for comment.