{"id":2456,"date":"2026-06-21T13:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T13:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=2456"},"modified":"2026-06-21T13:49:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T13:49:13","slug":"electric-air-taxis-lawsuits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=2456","title":{"rendered":"Electric air taxis are stuck in the courtroom"},"content":{"rendered":"


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This is <\/em>The Stepback<\/a>, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on aviation, air taxis, and Wi-Fi speeds at 30,000 feet, follow <\/em>Andrew J. Hawkins<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>The Stepback arrives in our subscribers\u2019 inboxes on Sunday at 8AM ET. Opt in for <\/em>The Stepback here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Last year, two of the leading air taxi companies in the US, Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation, sued each other<\/a>, with Joby accusing Archer of corporate espionage and Archer claiming that Joby was concealing its ties to China. Then, in February of this year, Archer filed a patent infringement suit against a different air taxi rival, Vertical Aerospace<\/a>, accusing it of copying its \u201cMidnight\u201d design for its own \u201cValo\u201d aircraft.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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These tiffs are taking place less than two years after Archer supposedly settled its dispute with Boeing-backed Wisk Aero over the alleged theft of trade secrets \u2014 only to see the case reopened when Wisk asked the court for help enforcing the terms of the settlement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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These heated courtroom battles are unfolding at a precarious time for the air taxi industry, right as it\u2019s trying to position its technology as an important new mode of urban mobility with the ability to whisk passengers across cities without any of the noise or carbon pollution of a traditional helicopter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Despite these promises, the industry is experiencing a lot of ups and downs. Air taxi stocks have lost most of their value over the last several years as certification deadlines get pushed further and further out. Budgets are dwindling as timelines are getting longer. And investors, already wary about the industry\u2019s ability to win regulatory approval, are growing increasingly nervous about the enormous costs required by these lawsuits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As companies race to dominate a brand-new, potentially multibillion-dollar aviation industry<\/a>, these disputes over intellectual property, competition, and talent are triggering an aggressive wave of litigation that could make it even more difficult for the electric air taxi industry to inevitably get off the ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Located only an hour from each other across the San Francisco Bay Area, Joby and Archer have become bitter rivals in the race to become the Uber of the sky. In the past year, they\u2019ve become entangled in a series of suits and countersuits that take jabs at their products and progress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In a suit filed in November 2025, Joby accused Archer of corporate espionage, citing a former Joby employee who left to work for Archer. Joby alleges that the former employee stole technical information and stakeholder communications in order to provide them to his new employer. \u201cArcher brazenly used that stolen information,\u201d Joby claims in its complaint.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In March of this year, Archer clapped back, accusing Joby of defrauding the US government by misclassifying components imported from China. The plan, Archer claimed, included classifying China aircraft parts as consumer goods such as \u201chair clips\u201d and \u201csocks.\u201d The countersuit appears to have paid off; a month later, the International Trade Commission opened an investigation into Joby\u2019s ties to China, examining whether the company violated tariff or patent law. The ongoing investigation<\/a> could delay Joby\u2019s plans to launch an air taxi service by 2028.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But Joby isn\u2019t the only rival in Archer\u2019s crosshairs. In February, Archer filed a lawsuit against UK-based Vertical Aerospace, accusing it of ripping off its eVTOL designs. Archer\u2019s Midnight and Vertical\u2019s Valo are both four-passenger aircraft with electric motors and tilt-rotor propellers designed for vertical takeoff and landing. Both have a cruising speed of 150mph and a maximum range of 100 miles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s obvious that Vertical\u2019s Valo aircraft mimics many of Midnight\u2019s most distinctive design features,\u201d Eric Lentell, Archer\u2019s chief strategy and legal officer, said in a statement to The Verge<\/em>. Vertical Aerospace spokesperson Justin Bates said that Archer\u2019s claims were \u201cwithout merit\u201d and a \u201cdistraction\u201d from the company\u2019s challenges in the market.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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No air taxi company has fully completed the rigorous FAA type certification required to fly passengers commercially in the US. But both Joby and Archer claim they are close.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Joby is widely considered to be the front-runner, having progressed through all four stages of the type certification process. The company produces around one aircraft a month and is currently working on a production version that will undergo the FAA\u2019s certification process. In April, Joby demonstrated one of its aircraft flying from JFK Airport to Lower Manhattan<\/a> as a preview of future air taxi routes. The company plans on launching its first passenger service in Dubai, where certification requirements are less strict than in the US, later this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Archer, meanwhile, is still working on a pre-production model and has progressed through three of the four type certification stages. The company has said it will be ready for passengers in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But investors have been less than impressed with the companies\u2019 claims of being on the cusp of commercial viability. At the time of publication, Joby\u2019s stock has shed almost 35 percent of its value since the beginning of the year, while Archer\u2019s stock has plummeted nearly 33 percent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There\u2019s so much at stake, it\u2019s no surprise these companies are using their legal teams to blast each other out of the sky. The talent pool is small, so disputes over trade secrets and corporate espionage were in some ways inevitable. And because FAA certification is an absolute necessity for a future air taxi service, regulatory compliance became another line of attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But these lawsuits are also sending a message to investors, to regulators, and to potential future passengers: Buckle up, because there\u2019s turbulence ahead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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