In brief: Qualcomm and Arm are back in court. Reuters says Qualcomm seeks to suspend Arm royalties for up to five years. Unlike the first case, this trial centers on pricing, negotiations and future Arm technology.
A second dispute with different economics
The trial began on 5 October in federal court in Delaware. Qualcomm accuses Arm of anticompetitive conduct after its Nuvia acquisition and of withholding commercially reasonable licence terms. Reuters says the requested royalty holiday could be worth billions of dollars. Arm disputes the claims.
Qualcomm's SEC filing confirms the sequence: a separate action in 2024, a 2025 claim over allegedly unreasonable Technology License Agreement terms, and another contract claim in March 2026. A jury will decide parts of the case; the judge will address new licensing terms.
What the earlier victory did not decide
The first case concerned Nuvia's Architecture License Agreement and Qualcomm's right to use CPU cores developed after the acquisition under its own licence. A jury ruled for Qualcomm in 2024; the court confirmed in 2025 that Arm proved no breach by Qualcomm or Nuvia.
That protected the existing product line but did not determine Arm's future prices and conditions for technology and support. That second layer is now central.
Pandorex Analysis
The immediate question is not primarily whether Qualcomm may keep selling Oryon processors. It is the cost base and bargaining power behind future phone, PC and data-center chips. Arm's SEC filing says Qualcomm generated nine percent of its revenue in the fiscal year ended March 2026.
A multi-year loss of royalties would therefore hit Arm directly and could encourage other licensees to challenge their terms. An Arm victory would instead show that Qualcomm's success in the Nuvia case does not give it a free hand in future contracts. Internal wording and the start of a trial do not predict the outcome; the economic effect will only become clear with a judgment and its specific remedy.