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Qualcomm’s Arm Architecture License Agreement (ALA) lets it develop its own customized processor cores that comply with the Arm instruction-set architecture (ISA), rather than merely selecting an off-the-shelf Arm core. In the Qualcomm–Nuvia litigation, a jury found that Qualcomm’s challenged use of Nuvia-associated technology was covered by Qualcomm’s own ALA, and the court entered final judgment for Qualcomm and Nuvia on September 30, 2025. That result applies to the agreements and evidence in that case; it is not a blanket ruling that every Arm license covers every acquired design.
What an Arm architecture license is
Arm licenses intellectual property at several levels. The distinction that matters most for chipmakers is between an Architecture License Agreement (ALA) and a Technology License Agreement (TLA).
| License type | What the licensee generally receives | Who designs the CPU core | Important contractual limits described by Arm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture License Agreement (ALA) | Permission to create a customized processor design that follows the Arm ISA | The licensee, or engineers working for it | The customer’s contract defines the permitted Arm technology and other conditions |
| Technology License Agreement (TLA) | A particular CPU core or other Arm technology design | Arm supplies the licensed design | Arm says incorporation into new chips can be limited by a time period and/or by the number of concurrent designs; manufacturing rights are typically perpetual under Arm’s description |
Arm’s Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed February 5, 2026, describes these as categories rather than a universal template. The commercial terms of an individual customer’s agreement—fees, permitted products, territories, security provisions, support and termination rights—can differ. An ALA therefore is not a general ownership transfer of Arm’s intellectual property. It is a negotiated permission to use specified Arm technology to make compliant designs.
What Qualcomm’s own ALA permitted
The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware described Qualcomm’s 2013 ALA as granting a “non-exclusive, world-wide right and licence” to use applicable Arm technology to design and have designed “Architecture Compliant Cores.” The court described such a core as a microprocessor core developed by or for Qualcomm under that agreement.
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In practical terms, that type of license can support a chipmaker’s own CPU microarchitecture: pipeline organization, execution resources, cache arrangements, power-management behavior and other implementation choices, provided the resulting core complies with the licensed Arm ISA and the contract’s other conditions. The license does not automatically authorize uses outside the agreement, nor does the public description reveal Qualcomm’s complete confidential terms.
- Non-exclusive: Arm could license the architecture to other companies.
- Worldwide: the court’s description was not limited to one country.
- Design and have designed: Qualcomm could develop cores internally or engage others to develop them for Qualcomm, subject to the agreement.
- Architecture-compliant: the permission concerns cores that implement the applicable Arm instruction set and satisfy the contract’s definition of compliance.
Those words describe the scope the court considered; they do not disclose Qualcomm’s royalty rate, minimum commitments, product list, sublicensing rules or every technology schedule attached to the ALA.
How an ALA differs from licensing a ready-made Arm core
A TLA is closer to receiving a finished CPU design. A licensee can integrate that core into a system-on-chip, configure permitted options and build products around it, but it generally is not creating an entirely independent microarchitecture under the license. Arm says TLA agreements may specify a deadline for incorporating the design into new chips or cap the number of designs being developed at one time. Once a permitted design is incorporated, Arm’s filing says licensees typically may manufacture it perpetually, although the exact contract controls.
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An ALA shifts more engineering responsibility to the customer. The customer must design, verify, validate and support its own implementation while ensuring compatibility with the ISA and any architectural rules. That can enable differentiated performance, power use or features, but it also creates greater engineering and compliance obligations than integrating a supplied core.
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What neither license type should be assumed to mean
- It does not mean the customer owns the Arm ISA or Arm’s underlying intellectual property.
- It does not make every Arm design or future Arm technology available automatically.
- It does not erase confidentiality, export-control, branding, security or audit conditions in the contract.
- It does not prove that rights held by one legal entity transfer to another entity after an acquisition.
Why Nuvia created a separate legal question
Nuvia had its own Arm ALA for CPU development. That agreement included a condition requiring Arm’s consent for assignment in an acquisition. Qualcomm acquired Nuvia in March 2021. Arm notified Nuvia in February 2022 that it would terminate Nuvia’s agreement effective March 1, 2022, and later sued over continued use of technology and related obligations, including requests concerning use and destruction of relevant technology.
The dispute therefore involved two contracts, not one:
- Qualcomm’s 2013 ALA: whether it independently licensed Qualcomm’s use of the applicable Arm technology to design architecture-compliant cores.
- Nuvia’s ALA: whether the acquisition, assignment-consent condition, termination and post-termination duties were breached, and what should happen to technology associated with that agreement.
Arm argued that the assignment condition required consent and that some technology had to be returned or destroyed after termination. Qualcomm argued that its own ALA covered the challenged use. The parties presented competing interpretations of contract language and evidence about what they intended. The existence of an acquisition-consent clause means the case cannot be reduced to a rule that all license rights automatically follow a company’s assets or become available to an acquirer.
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December 2024 trial
At trial, the jury found that Arm had not proved Qualcomm breached the relevant Nuvia ALA provision. It also found that Qualcomm proved its challenged use of Arm technology was licensed under Qualcomm’s own ALA. The jury did not reach a verdict on whether Nuvia itself breached its agreement.
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September 30, 2025 judgment
On September 30, 2025, the District of Delaware upheld the findings reached by the jury, denied Arm’s request for a new trial and granted Qualcomm judgment as a matter of law on the unresolved Nuvia-breach question. Final judgment was entered for Qualcomm and Nuvia.
The court’s description of the Qualcomm license captures the central contract issue:
“Among other things, the Qualcomm ALA granted Qualcomm a ‘non-exclusive, world-wide right and licence’ to ‘use the applicable ARM Technology to design and have designed . . . Architecture Compliant Cores,’ which are ‘microprocessor core[s] developed by or for [Qualcomm] under the [ALA].’”
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Qualcomm’s September 30, 2025 press release called the result a “full victory.” That is Qualcomm’s characterization of the ruling, not a substitute for the court’s findings or a statement that every dispute between the companies ended.
What the ruling means for chipmakers
An ALA can protect an acquirer’s independent license position
The verdict shows why a company’s own architecture license can matter when it acquires a design house. Qualcomm did not prevail simply because it bought Nuvia. It prevailed on the issue the jury was asked to decide because the evidence and contract language supported a finding that Qualcomm’s ALA licensed the challenged use.
Acquisition due diligence still matters
A target company’s license may contain assignment-consent, change-of-control, termination, return-of-materials or destruction provisions. An acquirer should identify which entity is the licensee, which designs were developed under which agreement, whether consent is required and what happens when the agreement ends. The Qualcomm result does not eliminate those checks.
Design freedom comes with compliance work
An ALA can enable a differentiated CPU, but the licensee must still demonstrate ISA compliance and satisfy the agreement’s restrictions. Engineering records, provenance of design files, employee and contractor rights, technology segregation and documentation can become important evidence if a dispute arises.
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What remains unresolved
Arm appealed the September 2025 judgment. Arm’s Form 6-K for the six months ended June 30, 2026, filed September 4, 2026, said the appeal was pending. The materials available for this article do not establish an appellate outcome, so the district-court judgment should not be presented as the final word on every legal issue.
A separate Qualcomm lawsuit against Arm Holdings and Arm Limited was consolidated in March 2026. Qualcomm filed an amended complaint against Arm Limited on March 30, 2026, adding a contract claim. Arm disputed Qualcomm’s assertions and said the case was expected to go to trial in the fourth quarter of 2026. Qualcomm’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 28, 2025, filed February 4, 2026, listed October 5, 2026 as the scheduled trial start. A scheduled date is not an outcome; the available filings do not establish what happened at or after that date.
How to evaluate an Arm license in a real transaction
- Identify the license category. Determine whether the agreement is an ALA, a TLA or a combination of rights.
- Map the licensed technology. List the ISA version, architecture extensions, core designs, tools and other Arm technology covered by each schedule.
- Trace the legal entity. Confirm which company holds the license and whether affiliates, contractors or acquired businesses may use it.
- Check assignment and control clauses. Look for consent requirements, change-of-control triggers, termination rights and post-termination duties.
- Check design and manufacturing windows. For TLA rights, verify deadlines for incorporating a design and any cap on concurrent designs. For ALA rights, verify milestones, certification and implementation restrictions.
- Preserve provenance. Keep records showing which engineers created each core, under which agreement and using which Arm materials.
- Separate public descriptions from the contract. Arm’s public filings explain the broad ALA/TLA distinction; only the signed agreement determines a customer’s exact rights.
Common misconceptions
“An Arm license lets a company use any Arm core.”
No. An ALA generally concerns the customer’s own ISA-compliant implementation, while a TLA concerns specified Arm technology. Scope depends on the agreement and its schedules.
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“Buying a company automatically transfers its Arm license.”
No. Nuvia’s agreement expressly made assignment in an acquisition subject to Arm’s consent. The Qualcomm litigation turned on the separate question of what Qualcomm’s own ALA permitted.
“The 2025 judgment settled every Qualcomm–Arm dispute.”
No. The district court entered judgment for Qualcomm and Nuvia in the case tried there, Arm reported a pending appeal in June 2026, and a separate Qualcomm action remained scheduled for further proceedings.
“A worldwide license means there are no other restrictions.”
No. “Worldwide” describes geographic reach in the court’s quotation. It does not disclose or remove limits concerning products, technology versions, affiliates, security, export controls, assignment or termination.
Key dates and procedural milestones
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2013 | Qualcomm entered the ALA later described by the court as granting a non-exclusive, worldwide right to use applicable Arm technology to design and have designed architecture-compliant cores. |
| March 2021 | Qualcomm acquired Nuvia. |
| February 2022 | Arm notified Nuvia that it would terminate Nuvia’s ALA effective March 1, 2022. |
| December 2024 | Jury trial; the jury found Qualcomm’s challenged use licensed under Qualcomm’s ALA and found no proven Qualcomm breach of the relevant Nuvia provision, but deadlocked on whether Nuvia breached. |
| September 30, 2025 | District court denied Arm’s new-trial request, granted Qualcomm judgment as a matter of law on the unresolved Nuvia-breach issue and entered final judgment for Qualcomm and Nuvia. |
| March 2026 | Qualcomm’s separate lawsuit against Arm Holdings and Arm Limited was consolidated. |
| March 30, 2026 | Qualcomm filed an amended complaint against Arm Limited adding a contract claim. |
| June 2026 | Arm reported that its appeal of the district-court judgment remained pending. |
| October 5, 2026 | Qualcomm’s December 2025 quarterly filing listed this as the scheduled start of the separate trial; the available filings do not establish the result. |
Bottom line for chip designers
Qualcomm’s Arm ALA gave it contractual permission to create its own Arm ISA-compliant CPU cores using applicable Arm technology. That is materially broader design freedom than a license to integrate a specific supplied core, but it remains bounded by the negotiated agreement. In the Qualcomm–Nuvia dispute, the courts and jury accepted Qualcomm’s position that its own ALA covered the challenged use and ultimately entered judgment for Qualcomm and Nuvia. The pending appeal and separate litigation mean the case should be read as a decision about particular contracts and facts—not as a universal definition of what every Arm license allows.
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