Wisk Aero has asked the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to grant a preliminary injunction to stop Archer Aviation from using what it says are confidential trade secrets about a planned eVTOL aircraft. The May 19 filing also seeks orders requiring Archer to provide full access to evidence for the trial due to start on July 7 in which Wisk will allege that the rival start-up has based its five-seat eVTOL aircraft on its own designs for a product that it has had in development for several years.
Meanwhile, Wisk also confirmed that the company is cooperating with an ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI and Department of Justice relating to allegations that a former employee stole trade secrets before moving to a role with Archer. This investigation was made public when Wisk first initiated its lawsuit on April 6, at which time Archer said that it had placed an unnamed employee on paid administrative leave.
