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Electric Aircraft Builders Wisk and Archer Battle Over Trade Secrets

The Wisk Aero and Archer Aviation aircraft bear a striking resemblance to each other. Courtesy Wisk Aero
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Wisk Aero, a joint venture of Boeing and Kitty Hawk, has sued rival eVTOL company Archer Aviation, alleging theft of trade secrets and patent infringement.
  • Wisk claims Archer's electric flying vehicle design closely copies its patented technology and that former Wisk employees downloaded thousands of confidential files before moving to Archer.
  • Archer denies the allegations, stating the lawsuit is a "smoke screen" to obscure why employees are leaving Wisk and that their own investigation found no proprietary Wisk technology was transferred.
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You’re not alone if keeping track of the dozens of new electric flying vehicles has your head spinning. Two significant players are Archer Aviation and Wisk Aero. California-based Archer plans to create the world’s first all-electric airline and has already secured orders for regional electric airliners from United Airlines, while Wisk is a joint venture between Boeing and Kitty Hawk and financed by Google co-founder Larry Page.

Rob Mark

Rob Mark is an award-winning journalist, business jet pilot, flight instructor, and blogger.

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