Joby Aviation makes ‘corporate espionage’ claims in lawsuit against rival Archer

Joby Aviation, a pioneer in the electric air taxi industry, has launched a lawsuit against rival Archer Aviation, claiming that Archer engaged in corporate espionage by utilizing stolen trade secrets from a former Joby employee. Filed on Thursday in Santa Cruz County's Superior Court, the lawsuit outlines serious allegations against both Archer and George Kivork, the ex-Joby staff member who was recruited by Archer. According to the lawsuit, Kivork allegedly accessed and extracted a trove of sensitive documents just two days before resigning from Joby. These documents purportedly contained critical information about confidential partnerships, regulatory strategies, and technical specifications related to Joby’s aircraft. Joby claims that Archer leveraged this stolen information to approach one of its key partners, sharing insider details about their exclusive agreement. The complaint emphasizes the severity of the situation, describing it as “corporate espionage, planned and premeditated,” and asserts that Joby was left with no choice but to take legal action to safeguard its proprietary data. In response, Archer has strongly rejected Joby's claims, suggesting that the lawsuit is an attempt to divert attention from Joby’s own challenges. Eric Lentell, Archer’s Chief Legal and Strategy Officer, stated in an email that the lawsuit lacks merit and fails to specify any particular trade secrets that were misappropriated. He further noted that Archer has implemented strict onboarding procedures to prevent such occurrences, accusing Joby of misusing the legal system to gain an unfair advantage in the competitive landscape of advanced aviation. Both companies, headquartered in California, made their public debuts in 2021 through mergers with special purpose acquisition companies and are racing to develop electric air taxis, as well as exploring defense applications for their technologies. Archer has recently partnered with defense contractor Anduril to create a hybrid VTOL aircraft, while Joby is collaborating with L3Harris Technologies to investigate opportunities for developing a gas-turbine hybrid VTOL aircraft. This lawsuit marks a significant escalation in the rivalry between the two firms, reminiscent of Archer's past legal troubles when it faced a lawsuit from Wisk, now a Boeing subsidiary, over alleged theft of confidential information. That case, involving claims of over fifty stolen trade secrets, was ultimately settled after two years of litigation, with the parties agreeing to collaborate moving forward.