US court trims Joby's trade-secret case against Archer Aviation

Oct 2 — Archer Aviation said on Friday a California federal court ​had dismissed some of Joby Aero's trade-secret and contract claims against it, as well as Archer's counterclaims.

The ‌US District Court for the Northern District of California issued the ruling ⁠on September 29, cutting ​back on the claims ⁠in the ongoing litigation between the two air-taxi makers.

Air ‌taxi makers are ‌racing to commercialize electric vertical takeoff and landing ⁠aircraft — an emerging market backed ⁠by major automakers, airlines and investors that has also spawned a string of trade-secret and patent disputes.

Archer settled separate trade-secret claims brought by Boeing-owned air-taxi developer Wisk in 2023, and filed a patent infringement ‌lawsuit against Vertical Aerospace earlier this ​year.

Joby sued Archer in 2025, alleging a former employee, George Kivork, who led its state and local policy team, took confidential information on business strategies, partnership terms and aircraft specifications before joining the rival.

A forensic investigation found Kivork had sent dozens of Joby files ​to a personal email account and altered security permissions ‌on hundreds more ‌to ⁠access them after his departure, the lawsuit said.

Joby also alleged Archer misused the trade secrets to undercut one of its agreements with a real-estate developer.

The company sought an ‌unspecified amount of monetary ​damages and an order preventing ‌Archer from using ⁠its trade ​secrets.

(Reporting by Apratim Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and ​Vijay Kishore)

Related topics