Wisk Aero’s civil lawsuit against Archer is set to go to a full trial after the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied Wisk’s motion for a preliminary injunction against its eVTOL aircraft rival. The case hinges on Wisk’s accusations that Archer and several former Wisk employees stole trade secrets and used these as the basis for the Maker eVTOL technology demonstrator that Archer recently unveiled and intends to fly for the first time before the end of this year. Proceedings are set to resume with a case-management meeting on August 11 that could kick off a trial likely to last at least six months and be heard by a jury.
In a short ruling late on July 22, Judge William Orrick ruled that “Wisk has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits that defendant Archer Aviation has misappropriated its particular asserted trade secrets.” He indicated that there is more evidence to weigh over charges that Archer has steadfastly denied, adding, “There are some arguable indications of misappropriation but, even if the totality of that evidence raises ‘serious questions going to the merits,’ it is too uncertain and equivocal to support a finding of irreparable injury based on misappropriation or that the balance of hardships sharply favors Wisk.”
