FutureFlight
Wisk Sues Archer, Alleging Theft and Patent Infringement Over eVTOL Aircraft Design
In a lawsuit filed in federal court, Wisk Aero alleges that several of its former employees passed intellectual property to Archer after joining the company.
Wisk lawsuit
Wisk Aero alleges that Archer's design for an eVTOL aircraft is based on an earlier design for which it filed a patent application in January 2020. (Image: Wisk Aero)

Wisk Aero today filed a lawsuit against rival eVTOL aircraft developer Archer Aviation for alleged theft of trade secrets and patent infringement. The case (No. 5:21-cv-02450) filed in the U.S. federal court for the Northern District of California seeks an injunction to stop the use of what Wisk says is its intellectual property and “other remedies” against Archer.

In a written statement, a spokesperson for Archer said that the company intends to defend itself vigorously in the case. “It’s regrettable that Wisk would engage in litigation in an attempt to deflect from the business issues that have caused several of its employees to depart,” the spokesperson said. “The plaintiff raised these matters over a year ago, and after looking into them thoroughly, we have no reason to believe any proprietary Wisk technology ever made its way to Archer.”