Finance, Taxes, Insurance
Archer Beats European Bid to Buy Lilium’s eVTOL Patent Portfolio
Rival European bidder complains insolvency administrator breached commitment
Lilium Jet eVTOL
The Lilium Jet eVTOL aircraft features 30 electric ducted propellers embedded in the wing and canard. (Image: Lilium)

Archer Aviation is acquiring about 300 patents from Lilium, an insolvent eVTOL aircraft manufacturer and former competitor, for €18 million ($21 million) after winning a competitive bid process, the California-based manufacturer announced on October 15. Lilium's insolvency administrator accepted Archer's bid in preference to another made by Europe-based Ambitious Air Mobility Group (AAMG), which has been trying to secure the assets for several months.

According to Archer, the patents it obtained from the German company pertain to various electric aviation innovations, including electric motors and ducted fans, high-voltage systems, battery management, aircraft design, and flight controls. With this acquisition, Archer now claims to have more than 1,000 patent assets in its intellectual property portfolio.