Deutsche Bank views partial decision on Arm, Qualcomm dispute as incremental

Deutsche Bank notes that late on Dec 20th, a Delaware jury issued a partial decision on the IP dispute between Arm (ARM) and Hold-rated Qualcomm (QCOM), finding that the latter did not violate the architectural license granted to Nuvia and that Qualcomm’s existing architectural license with Arm allowed it to continue developing custom cores obtained via the Nuvia acquisition. However, the jury was deadlocked on a third issue, regarding whether Nuvia violated its architectural license when it was acquired by Qualcomm. Arm has since indicated that it is likely to request a retrial on the third issue, so the dispute between the two companies will likely be ongoing, albeit on a more limited basis, the firm adds. Qualcomm appears to have won the first round, whereas Arm is likely to be disappointed, Deutsche says. The firm generally views these findings as incremental and believes investor focus can rightly return to each company’s respective core fundamentals.