Wisk Aero sues Archer Aviation for theft of trade secrets and patent infringement

Wisk Aero LLC ("Wisk"), the first Urban Air Mobility (UAM) company to design, build and fly an all-electric, self-flying air taxi in the U.S., filed a lawsuit against Archer Aviation Inc. ("Archer"). The lawsuit alleges that Archer's business is "built on intellectual property that is not its own" and brings claims for trade secret misappropriation and patent infringement.

As detailed in the filing in federal court in the Northern District of California, this lawsuit follows:

Wisk's discovery of suspicious file downloads by certain former employees who left Wisk to work for Archer, including thousands of files related to Wisk's confidential aircraft designs, component designs, system designs, manufacturing, and test data.

Archer's recent disclosure of an aircraft design appears to be a copy of a design Wisk developed and submitted in a confidential patent application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office back in January 2020. Archer's aircraft disclosure was made in connection with its plan to merge with Atlas Crest Corporation.

As stated in the complaint, "Wisk brings this lawsuit to stop a brazen theft of its intellectual property and confidential information, and protect the substantial investment of resources and years of hard work and effort of its employees and their vision of the future in urban air transportation." Wisk Aero LLC vs. Archer Aviation Inc. (Case No. 5:21-cv-02450).