WILMINGTON, Delaware, Dec 16 (Reuters) - A legal battle

between Arm and Qualcomm ( QCOM ) that could

disrupt a wave of artificial intelligence PCs began on Monday,

as the chipmakers laid out contrasting versions of a contract

dispute, describing it as a matter of corporate deception or an

attempt to stifle competition.

The crux of the litigation is a clash over Qualcomm's ( QCOM )

license agreement for the use of Arm's intellectual property and

Qualcomm's ( QCOM ) 2021 $1.4 billion acquisition of chip startup Nuvia.

Qualcomm ( QCOM ) used Nuvia's designs to create new low-powered AI

PC chips launched earlier this year that Microsoft ( MSFT ) and

others expect will help the Windows operating system regain

ground lost to laptops made by Apple ( AAPL ).

During opening arguments, attorneys for both companies

displayed on a screen for jurors images of contracts, emails and

internal corporate chats with key language highlighted.

"We are here asking you to assist us with enforcing our

rights," Daralyn Durie, an attorney for Arm, told the jury.

She walked the jury through the basics of license and

royalty agreements, and showed them emails that she said would

prove Qualcomm ( QCOM ) knew it was using Arm technology without

permission.

Qualcomm's ( QCOM ) attorney told jurors the evidence would show that

Arm was under pressure to raise royalty rates, while at the same

time its technology was falling further and further behind.

"It's very sad actually," said Karen Dunn, an attorney for

Qualcomm ( QCOM ). "They are here because they want to own the future and

they don't want Qualcomm ( QCOM ) to compete with them."

Expected witnesses at the one-week trial include Arm Chief

Executive Rene Haas, Qualcomm ( QCOM ) CEO Cristiano Amon and Nuvia

founder Gerard Williams, who was a senior executive in Apple's ( AAPL )

chip unit and is currently a Qualcomm ( QCOM ) vice president.

Nuvia and Qualcomm ( QCOM ) each had licensing agreements with Arm

but with different financial terms. To use the designs based on

Nuvia technology, Arm has said Qualcomm ( QCOM ) must renegotiate the

Nuvia contract terms.

Qualcomm ( QCOM ) has said that its "well-established license rights"

cover any custom-designed central processing units (CPUs) and is

"confident those rights will be affirmed."

Arm has argued that Qualcomm ( QCOM ) should be required to destroy

the Nuvia designs and has not asked for monetary damages.

According to Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon, Qualcomm ( QCOM ) pays

Arm roughly $300 million a year in fees.

Britain-based Arm is owned by SoftBank Group, which

listed Arm in the U.S. in 2023.