Wisk v. Archer: Inside a Bitter eVTOL Trade Secret Lawsuit

Hundreds of millions of dollars are potentially at stake in a court battle over two designs for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

Thom Patterson

Friday, November 19, 2021 at 10:32 AM ET

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Wisk’s and Archer’s eVTOL designs look similar in this comparison. Courtesy: U.S. District Court

Key Takeaways:

Two leading electric air taxi developers, Wisk Aero and Archer Aviation, are engaged in a high-stakes lawsuit over allegations of patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation concerning their eVTOL aircraft designs.
Wisk accuses Archer of "brazen theft" of its intellectual property, citing design similarities, Archer's rapid development timeline, and the hiring of former Wisk engineers, one of whom allegedly downloaded confidential files before joining Archer.
Archer denies all wrongdoing, asserting its designs were developed independently through external consultants and even counter-accusing Wisk of filing a patent after learning of Archer's design.
While a judge denied Wisk's motion for a preliminary injunction, he also found Wisk's claims "plausible" and allowed the complex trade secret and patent infringement case to proceed to a jury trial.

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Two ascendent aircraft manufacturers—Wisk Aero and Archer Aviation—have been locked in a bitter court battle for months, accusing each other of stealing their designs for electric air taxis. Potentially hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake as they fight to dominate an emerging industry that promises to help the environment, transform urban transportation and launch a new era in commercial aviation.

After more than seven months of legal twists and turns, FLYING took a deep dive into the lawsuit’s allegations—and the aircraft designs—by pouring through court documents and consulting with two veteran patent attorneys.