The U.S. electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) race entered a more hostile phase this week. Joby Aviation has sued Archer Aviation in California Superior Court for alleged "corporate espionage," and Archer has counter-sued, alleging Joby concealed Chinese supply-chain ties from the U.S. government. Separately, Archer is suing Vertical Aerospace for patent infringement on the design of its Midnight aircraft. The legal flurry, reported by CNBC and TechCrunch on May 29, 2026, lands just as both lead U.S. companies push to finish FAA Type Certification.
Joby's trade-secret claim
Joby's complaint, filed in Santa Cruz County Superior Court, alleges former U.S. state and local policy lead George Kivork emailed confidential files to a personal account shortly before resigning in July 2025 to join Archer. Joby says the trove included partnership terms, regulatory strategy, vertiport and airport-access plans, and technical information on its piloted four-seat eVTOL. The company is seeking damages and an injunction blocking Archer from using the information.
Archer's counter-claims
Within weeks, Archer hit back with allegations that Joby "engaged in a calculated, years-long scheme" to mis-describe Chinese-sourced aircraft components — claiming Joby classified parts as consumer goods like "hair clips" and "socks" to evade U.S. trade controls. Joby has called the claims baseless. The same complaint accuses Joby of attempting to use political influence to delay Archer's certification path.
Vertical pulled in
Archer is also suing UK rival Vertical Aerospace in U.S. federal court for patent infringement, alleging Vertical's VX4 design copies the Midnight's rotor and powertrain architecture. Vertical, which announced its own type-certification flight programme earlier this month, has not yet filed a response.
Certification status
Despite the lawsuits, both Joby and Archer continue to advance through FAA Type Certification. Archer has completed Phase 3 and is concurrently working on Phase 4. Joby is most of the way through Phase 4 and has begun flight testing its first FAA-conforming aircraft. Both companies still expect to operate commercial passenger services in the United States in 2026, with Archer leading in the UAE through the RTC programme.
Market reaction
eVTOL stocks were already under pressure before the suits: Archer is down roughly 9% in 2026 and Joby has shed almost 7%, after a 60% rally in 2025. Analysts at Morgan Stanley and Cantor Fitzgerald warned this week that litigation costs and discovery-phase document production could slow internal engineering work at exactly the wrong moment. The Joby–Archer fight echoes earlier autonomy-era trade-secret battles such as the autonomous-vehicle disputes that dogged Waymo and Uber.
Reporting based on coverage from CNBC, TechCrunch, AVweb and Lookout Santa Cruz.