After eight months, both companies let the negotiations lapse and discontinued communication until Arm notified Qualcomm of the intent to terminate the Nuvia license

The chief executive of Arm on Monday downplayed the company's ambitions to become a chip supplier in its own right at a trial against Qualcomm, a major customer that pays Arm an estimated hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

However, the outcome of this case could have a wide-ranging impact on intellectual property licensing and mergers and acquisitions in the broader tech industry.

Arm Holdings and Qualcomm will face off in a U.S. District Court in Delaware today for the start of what's expected to be a week-long trial.