Qualcomm, Arm Set for Billion-Dollar Royalty Trial

Qualcomm seeks to suspend royalty payments to Arm for up to five years, potentially worth billions. A five-day jury trial began Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Delaware federal court. Judge Maryellen Noreika is considering whether to dismiss that royalty-suspension provision. The dispute involves claimed damage to Qualcomm's chip negotiations with Meta Platforms after a 2024 Arm threat to terminate a key license was allegedly leaked to media. Arm denies breach and calls the alleged commercial harm speculative. Arm also counters that Qualcomm leaked non-public antitrust probe details about Arm. A related bench trial will consider whether Arm negotiated in good faith over next-generation chip technology under an agreement that runs through 2033. Arm, owned by Japan's SoftBank Group, sued Qualcomm in 2022; Qualcomm won a key victory in 2024. Arm also supplies chip-design technology to Nvidia.