Arm sues Qualcomm over custom Nuvia CPU cores, wants designs destroyed
(2022/08/31)
- Reference: 1661980669
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/08/31/arm_sues_qualcomm/
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Arm is suing Qualcomm, one of its key customers, in a row over the latter's Nuvia custom CPU cores.
The Softbank-owned British chip designer filed suit
Arm has accused Qualcomm of breaching its licensing terms, and wants the American giant to fulfill its obligations, primarily destroying its Nuvia CPU designs, plus compensation.
How did we get here?
Back in 2019, Nuvia [2]emerged as a startup formed by semiconductor veterans, including the former chief architect of Apple's iPhone chips, to design server microprocessors. To achieve this, Nuvia obtained from Arm a special architectural license, which allowed it to create its own custom high-end Arm-compatible CPU cores. Nuvia also licensed Arm's standard off-the-shelf designs to drop into its chips.
Then in 2021, Qualcomm [3]bought Nuvia for $1.4 billion. This was seen as a move by Qualcomm to bring in designs and expertise to create or customize Arm CPU cores to better compete against its rivals. It was speculated that Qualcomm could use Nuvia's blueprints in server parts or adapt them for mobile devices.
[4]
According to Arm, though, the licenses it granted Nuvia could not be transferred to and used by its new parent Qualcomm without Arm's permission. Arm says Qualcomm did not, even after months of negotiations, obtain this consent, and appeared to be focused on putting Nuvia's custom CPU designs into its own line of chips without this permission.
TrendForce: AWS to give Arm a leg up to 22% of datacenter servers by 2025 [5]READ MORE
That led to Arm terminating its licenses with Nuvia in early 2022, requiring Qualcomm to destroy and stop using Nuvia's designs derived from those agreements. It's claimed that Qualcomm's top lawyer wrote to Arm confirming it would abide by the termination.
However, says Arm, it appeared from subsequent press reports that Qualcomm may not have destroyed the core designs and still intended to use the blueprints and technology it acquired with Nuvia for components, [6]including server processors, allegedly in breach of its contracts with Arm.
[7]
[8]
What's interesting is that Qualcomm has an Armv9 architectural license with Arm, which it can use to design its own custom 64-bit cores. Qualcomm also licenses off-the-shelf Arm cores, and puts these to use in its widely used Snapdragon family of mobile processors. Arm seems to be unhappy that Qualcomm intends to use Nuvia's custom CPU designs without, it is claimed, going through the proper licensing route.
Bypassed?
It may well be, and we understand this to be true, that Qualcomm's architectural license today is limited to mobile processors, while Nuvia's covers datacenter chips. Thus, in Arm's eyes, Qualcomm bypassed Arm's licensing process to get hold of some good-looking custom core designs that it should no longer have access to, via the Nuvia takeover, and if Qualcomm wants to use those blueprints and other materials, it has to renegotiate its architectural license.
It occurs to us that Qualcomm at one point was designing its own Arm server chips, and then gave up on the idea, then Arm started offering and licensing out its own server-grade CPU core designs, then Qualcomm snaps up Nuvia and gets hold of, yup, server processor designs.
In a [9]statement , Arm said:
Because Qualcomm attempted to transfer Nuvia licenses without Arm’s consent, which is a standard restriction under Arm’s license agreements, Nuvia’s licenses terminated in March 2022. Before and after that date, Arm made multiple good faith efforts to seek a resolution.
In contrast, Qualcomm has breached the terms of the Arm license agreement by continuing development under the terminated licenses. Arm was left with no choice other than to bring this claim against Qualcomm and Nuvia to protect our IP, our business, and to ensure customers are able to access valid Arm-based products.
Qualcomm, which months ago was rumored to be interested in buying a stake in Arm after Nvidia failed to buy the Brit biz, was not ready to comment at time of publishing. ®
Get our [10]Tech Resources
[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2022/08/31/pacer_arm_qualcomm.pdf
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2019/12/09/apple_nuvia_ceo_suit/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/16/qualcomm_closes_nuvia_announces_chipset/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yw-Z9QbTBDhx9Fn4djSuAgAAAJg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/29/aws_arm_servers_datacenters/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/19/qualcomm_arm_server_chip/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yw-Z9QbTBDhx9Fn4djSuAgAAAJg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Yw-Z9QbTBDhx9Fn4djSuAgAAAJg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.arm.com/company/news/2022/08/arm-files-lawsuit-against-qualcomm-and-nuvia-for-breach-of-license-agreements-and-trademark-infringement
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The Softbank-owned British chip designer filed suit
[1]PDF
against Qualcomm today in a US federal district court in Delaware.Arm has accused Qualcomm of breaching its licensing terms, and wants the American giant to fulfill its obligations, primarily destroying its Nuvia CPU designs, plus compensation.
How did we get here?
Back in 2019, Nuvia [2]emerged as a startup formed by semiconductor veterans, including the former chief architect of Apple's iPhone chips, to design server microprocessors. To achieve this, Nuvia obtained from Arm a special architectural license, which allowed it to create its own custom high-end Arm-compatible CPU cores. Nuvia also licensed Arm's standard off-the-shelf designs to drop into its chips.
Then in 2021, Qualcomm [3]bought Nuvia for $1.4 billion. This was seen as a move by Qualcomm to bring in designs and expertise to create or customize Arm CPU cores to better compete against its rivals. It was speculated that Qualcomm could use Nuvia's blueprints in server parts or adapt them for mobile devices.
[4]
According to Arm, though, the licenses it granted Nuvia could not be transferred to and used by its new parent Qualcomm without Arm's permission. Arm says Qualcomm did not, even after months of negotiations, obtain this consent, and appeared to be focused on putting Nuvia's custom CPU designs into its own line of chips without this permission.
TrendForce: AWS to give Arm a leg up to 22% of datacenter servers by 2025 [5]READ MORE
That led to Arm terminating its licenses with Nuvia in early 2022, requiring Qualcomm to destroy and stop using Nuvia's designs derived from those agreements. It's claimed that Qualcomm's top lawyer wrote to Arm confirming it would abide by the termination.
However, says Arm, it appeared from subsequent press reports that Qualcomm may not have destroyed the core designs and still intended to use the blueprints and technology it acquired with Nuvia for components, [6]including server processors, allegedly in breach of its contracts with Arm.
[7]
[8]
What's interesting is that Qualcomm has an Armv9 architectural license with Arm, which it can use to design its own custom 64-bit cores. Qualcomm also licenses off-the-shelf Arm cores, and puts these to use in its widely used Snapdragon family of mobile processors. Arm seems to be unhappy that Qualcomm intends to use Nuvia's custom CPU designs without, it is claimed, going through the proper licensing route.
Bypassed?
It may well be, and we understand this to be true, that Qualcomm's architectural license today is limited to mobile processors, while Nuvia's covers datacenter chips. Thus, in Arm's eyes, Qualcomm bypassed Arm's licensing process to get hold of some good-looking custom core designs that it should no longer have access to, via the Nuvia takeover, and if Qualcomm wants to use those blueprints and other materials, it has to renegotiate its architectural license.
It occurs to us that Qualcomm at one point was designing its own Arm server chips, and then gave up on the idea, then Arm started offering and licensing out its own server-grade CPU core designs, then Qualcomm snaps up Nuvia and gets hold of, yup, server processor designs.
In a [9]statement , Arm said:
Because Qualcomm attempted to transfer Nuvia licenses without Arm’s consent, which is a standard restriction under Arm’s license agreements, Nuvia’s licenses terminated in March 2022. Before and after that date, Arm made multiple good faith efforts to seek a resolution.
In contrast, Qualcomm has breached the terms of the Arm license agreement by continuing development under the terminated licenses. Arm was left with no choice other than to bring this claim against Qualcomm and Nuvia to protect our IP, our business, and to ensure customers are able to access valid Arm-based products.
Qualcomm, which months ago was rumored to be interested in buying a stake in Arm after Nvidia failed to buy the Brit biz, was not ready to comment at time of publishing. ®
Get our [10]Tech Resources
[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2022/08/31/pacer_arm_qualcomm.pdf
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2019/12/09/apple_nuvia_ceo_suit/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/16/qualcomm_closes_nuvia_announces_chipset/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yw-Z9QbTBDhx9Fn4djSuAgAAAJg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/29/aws_arm_servers_datacenters/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/19/qualcomm_arm_server_chip/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yw-Z9QbTBDhx9Fn4djSuAgAAAJg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/systems&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Yw-Z9QbTBDhx9Fn4djSuAgAAAJg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.arm.com/company/news/2022/08/arm-files-lawsuit-against-qualcomm-and-nuvia-for-breach-of-license-agreements-and-trademark-infringement
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/