Qualcomm and Arm face off in court again: billions of dollars in royalties at stake

The long-running dispute between Qualcomm and Arm returns to the courtroom: as Reuters reports, the two technology giants go before the federal court in Delaware again, in a five-day jury trial that begins on Monday, October 5, 2026. Qualcomm accuses Arm of withholding the chip-testing tools it was owed under contract.

According to Reuters’ reporting, Qualcomm also claims that Arm leaked to the media the 2024 threat to terminate an essential licensing agreement, thereby damaging Qualcomm’s talks with Meta over a chip deal.

Qualcomm is seeking to stop paying royalties to Arm — potentially worth billions of dollars — for up to five years. Judge Maryellen Noreika is considering whether to strike out that clause of the contract, which would limit Qualcomm to smaller damages.

Arm, owned by SoftBank, denies breaching the contract and says the damaged chip deals were speculative. As quoted by Reuters, the company counter-sues, claiming that Qualcomm itself leaked to the media non-public details of antitrust investigations into Arm.

In the background of the case: Arm sued Qualcomm in 2022; Qualcomm won a key victory in 2024; while the current agreement with Arm runs until 2033. Qualcomm is a major maker of chips for Android phones and is expanding into data-centre chips, while Arm has become a competitor by releasing its own chips.