Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation locked in lawsuits over trade secrets and patents

The air taxi industry has a problem that no amount of vertical takeoff technology can solve: its two biggest players are spending as much time in courtrooms as they are in test flights.

Joby Aviation filed a trade secrets lawsuit against Archer Aviation on November 19, 2025, in California state court, alleging that a former executive named George Kivork walked out the door with confidential business information and handed it to Archer.

The counterattack

Archer didn’t take the accusation quietly. The company fired back with counterclaims in March 2026, flipping the narrative entirely.

Archer’s countersuit accused Joby of concealing ties to Chinese suppliers and misclassifying aircraft parts on imports. By June 2026, the courts had started sorting through the mess. Some of Archer’s claims survived judicial scrutiny while others were dismissed, leaving a legal battlefield that’s still very much active and unresolved.

This isn’t even the first time Archer has been on the receiving end of a trade secrets lawsuit. Wisk Aero, backed by Boeing, previously sued Archer over similar allegations of stolen trade secrets. That case was settled in 2023.

Archer opens a second front

In February 2026, Archer filed a patent infringement suit against a separate air taxi rival, Vertical Aerospace. The complaint centers on Vertical Aerospace’s Valo aircraft, which Archer claims replicates design features and flight-control patents from its own Midnight eVTOL vehicle.

So to keep score: Joby is suing Archer, Archer is counter-suing Joby, and Archer is separately suing Vertical Aerospace.

Why this matters beyond the courtroom

Both Joby and Archer are publicly traded companies racing toward the same prize: FAA certification and the right to launch commercial air taxi services in the US.

The trade secrets allegations are particularly significant because they strike at the core of what makes these companies valuable. If Joby’s claims hold up and a court determines that Archer benefited from stolen confidential information, the remedies could include financial damages, injunctions, or both. Conversely, if Archer’s counterclaims about Joby’s Chinese supply chain ties gain traction, the reputational and regulatory consequences for Joby could be severe.

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