Jury: Arm Breached License Agreement with Qualcomm, But Damages Are Only Two Dollars
A jury in the U.S. state of Delaware found that Arm breached an architecture license agreement with Qualcomm and interfered with its relationship with Meta, but awarded only two dollars in nominal damages.
A federal jury in the U.S. state of Delaware concluded that Arm breached its architecture license agreement with Qualcomm and intentionally interfered with its business relationship with Meta Platforms.
The jury awarded Qualcomm only two dollars in nominal damages, while ruling in favor of Arm on other claims.
The decision on whether to allow Qualcomm to withhold royalties owed to Arm for five years remains before Judge Maryellen Noreika.
The verdict came after a five-day trial, the second between the two companies in two years, after SoftBank acquired control of Arm in 2016 and the company shifted from licensing technology to selling its own chips. Arm's stock fell about 1% following the ruling, while Qualcomm's stock rose about 1%, after the jury had ruled in favor of Arm on five other breach claims.
What do these terms mean?
Architecture License Agreement: A contract under which the owner of a processor design licenses another company to use it in its products in exchange for financial consideration.
Nominal Damages: A very small amount awarded by the court to establish that a violation occurred, without assessing actual financial loss.
Royalties: Periodic payments made for the use of licensed intellectual property rights.
Interference with Contractual Relationship: Intentionally causing harm to and disrupting an existing contract between two other parties.
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