Joby Aviation is widely regarded as one of the front runners in the race to bring eVTOL aircraft into commercial service. That said, over its 11-year history, the California-based company has also been one of the least transparent of the contenders, making it hard for observers to form an objective assessment of its progress and the depth of its intellectual property.
Credit is due to the Vertical Flight Society’s Electric VTOL News publication for shedding light on the extent of Joby’s patented technology. Its search last week of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) revealed that more than a dozen patent applications have been filed since December 2019 under the company name Joby Aero Inc. That corporate entity now has a total of 18 patent applications pending, and no fewer than six of these were filed in October 2020. The Delaware-incorporated firm appears to be the parent company of Joby Aviation.
