While Qualcomm was busy revealing its latest Snapdragon CPUs at a company showcase in Maui, Arm escalated an ongoing dispute between the two companies over licensing terms by revoking its architectural licence.
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Bloomberg reports that Arm issued Qualcomm a 60-day notice of termination, which would seriously damage the company’s attempt to ship hardware designed using the Arm-based architecture.
The dramatic move relates to a historic dispute between the two parties that dates back to 2019.
Gerard Williams, the renowned silicon engineer who designed processors used in Apple products, including the A7, the first 64-bit processor for mobile devices, left Qualcomm to form his own CPU design company, Nuvia.
Nuvia sought to build Arm-based server CPUs, only for Qualcomm to then acquire the startup in 2021 and the plans were dropped in favour of a mobile CPU, Qualcomm’s Oryon, which powers the new Snapdragon Elite 8, unveiled in Maui this week.
Arm then filed suit, contending that its licence was issued to Nuvia for a lower volume server-focused product, not mobile hardware that would find its way into millions of devices.
Having failed to re-negotiate licensing terms, the lawsuit is heading to trial later this year, only for Arm to pull the plug on the licence beforehand in a move that could have major repercussions for Qualcomm.
Unlike the open RISC-V architecture, Arm is steadfast at protecting its processor architecture, with licences varying based on factors like cost and deliverables.
Arm said in a statement it was "left with no choice but to take formal action" following Qualcomm’s alleged material breaches of its licence agreement.
"This is necessary to protect the unparalleled ecosystem that Arm and its highly valued partners have built over more than 30 years," the statement read. "Arm is fully prepared for the trial in December and remains confident that the court will find in Arm’s favour."
Qualcomm said in a statement: “This is more of the same from Arm — more unfounded threats designed to strongarm a long-time partner, interfere with our performance-leading CPUs, and increase royalty rates regardless of the broad rights under our architecture licence.
"With a trial fast approaching in December, Arm’s desperate ploy appears to be an attempt to disrupt the legal process, and its claim for termination is completely baseless. We are confident that Qualcomm’s rights under its agreement with Arm will be affirmed. Arm’s anticompetitive conduct will not be tolerated.”
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon event follows the unveiling of a new AI co-processor, the Networking Pro A7 Elite, at an event in Paris earlier this month. The Networking Pro A7 Elite is designed to offer a more responsive, privacy-oriented networking experience for both homes and offices.
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