Qualcomm counterclaim ARM: using litigation as bargaining chip, violating the agreement is nonsense
On the evening of October 27, Beijing time, it was reported that Qualcomm countersued ARM today that there was no legal basis for ARM's previous accusations that Qualcomm violated licensing agreements and trademarks.
Qualcomm wants a federal judge in Delaware to determine that the company did not violate ARM's license contract as part of Qualcomm's $1.4 billion acquisition of chip start-up Nuvia, according to court documents.
The focus of the dispute between the two sides is the chip design license between ARM and Nuvia. Last month, ARM filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm and Nuvia, accusing them of violating licensing agreements with ARM. Nuvia, a start-up Qualcomm acquired for $1.4 billion last year, designs chips based on Arm technology.
ARM requires Qualcomm to destroy designs developed under the Nuvia and Arm license agreement. ARM also said Qualcomm did not get the license even after months of negotiations. Moreover, Qualcomm has implanted Nuvia's custom CPU design into its own chip production line without permission.
Qualcomm's lawyers said ARM's goal was to "use this unfounded lawsuit as a lever to force Qualcomm to renegotiate the financial terms of the license agreement that the two sides have been implementing for a long time."
Qualcomm has been one of ARM's biggest customers in the past. Because Qualcomm and ARM are the two most influential chip companies in the world, the case has attracted a lot of attention in the technology industry.
Qualcomm acquired Nuvia last year to strengthen its technology and enable it to develop more powerful chips. It is also part of Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Cristiano Amo's broader strategy to reduce Qualcomm's dependence on the smartphone industry and gain share in the laptop chip and server processor market.
Lawyers for Qualcomm said ARM's lawsuit was intended to hinder Qualcomm's plan. "through this lawsuit, ARM made it clear to the market that it will take reckless and opportunistic action as a negotiation strategy to stifle product development and innovation," Qualcomm said in a counterclaim document today.
