Arm reportedly moved to terminate a licence allowing US giant Qualcomm to use its IP to design chips, a move which could disrupt the global device market and further intensify an ongoing legal fight between the pair.

Bloomberg reported Arm issued a 60-day notice to cancel an architectural licence, an agreement which allows Qualcomm to use the UK company’s basic computer code to run software such as operating systems within its chips.

Qualcomm could therefore be forced to stop selling hundreds of millions of processors which power the majority of Android smartphones or face legal damages, Bloomberg added.

The latest move ramps a legal fight between the companies begun in 2022 when Arm sued Qualcomm for alleged breaches and trademark infringement following a deal by the US company to buy chip start-up Nuvia in 2021.

Arm took issue with the fact Nuvia uses its licences to design its chips and stated the agreement could not be transferred to Qualcomm without permission.

The case is set to be heard in a US court in December, with Qualcomm arguing its existing agreements with Arm also cover the company it purchased.  

A Qualcomm representative told Bloomberg Arm’s latest move “appears to be an attempt to disrupt the legal process”.

 “We are confident that Qualcomm’s rights under its agreement with Arm will be affirmed.”