Arm and Qualcomm are continuing to fight, preparing to mediate the single question the December trial’s jury hung on and to pursue a separate lawsuit Qualcomm lodged.
Last month, the companies identified a few candidate mediators but have yet to complete (or possibly even begin) mediation. The parties’ acrimony casts doubt on a potential mediated solution. No clearer evidence of their pugilistic predilections comes from their ongoing court briefs arguing about Arm’s request for a retrial of all three questions or a judgment in their favor. We expect the court to reject a retrial on the jury verdict portions it has already accepted and to continue to push for a successful mediation.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm alleges in a separate case that Arm breached the companies’ architecture license agreement (ALA) by withholding information enabling Qualcomm to test its cores’ architecture compliance (compatibility). Demonstrating the parties’ stamina, Qualcomm filed the case in April 2024, and the target time frame for a trial is April 2026. Arm is petitioning the court to dismiss the case.
Bottom Line
Any conclusion based on the December 2024 jury verdict or earnings-call comments that either Arm or Qualcomm considers their dispute resolved is erroneous.