Qualcomm did not breach its architecture license agreement (ALA) with chip designer Arm, following its $1.4 billion acquisition of AI chip startup Nuvia in 2021, a Delaware District Court judge has ruled.

The decision from the judge comes after a December 2024 court battle ended in a mistrial when jurors failed to reach a decision on whether Nuvia breached the terms of its agreement to license Arm IP.

During that case, the jurors did however, determine that Qualcomm had not breached its license, and that its chips, which incorporate Nuvia technology, are properly licensed – a decision which the chipmaker described at the time as a “win.”

The decision this week from District Judge Maryellen Noreika is in favor of both Qualcomm and Nuvia, and rules that Nuvia did not breach its ALA with Arm.

Following the judgment, Qualcomm once again claimed victory in the case. Ann Chaplin, the company’s general counsel and corporate secretary, said: “With the court’s decision today, Qualcomm and its subsidiary Nuvia have achieved a full victory. This decision follows Qualcomm’s December 2024 jury trial win and is a full and final judgment in Qualcomm’s favor. Our right to innovate prevailed in this case, and we hope Arm will return to fair and competitive practices in dealing with the Arm ecosystem.”

Despite this, Arm has said it plans to appeal the verdict, telling The Register in a statement: “Arm remains confident in its position in its ongoing dispute with Qualcomm and will immediately file an appeal seeking to overturn the judgment.”

The ruling rejects Arm’s initial requests for a new trial.

Nuvia was founded in 2018 by three Apple engineers wanting to build data center server chips. After it was acquired, Qualcomm began talking to cloud and data center companies about testing an Arm chip for the server market using Nuvia cores.

Arm filed its original legal challenge in 2022, alleging that, by purchasing Nuvia and using the startup’s architectural licenses, Qualcomm was in violation of its own licensing agreement, which previously had only covered standard Arm chip blueprints.

In October 2023, Arm reportedly issued a 60-day cancellation notice terminating Qualcomm’s use of the architectural license it acquired in the Nuvia deal.

A separate lawsuit, filed by Qualcomm against Arm, is still ongoing, with a trial date slated for March 2026. In that case, Qualcomm has accused Arm of breach of contract, improper interference with customer relationships, and that Arm has a pattern of conduct seeking to hinder innovation and better position Arm’s own products over its long-standing partners.