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Joby filed a lawsuit against Archer on Wednesday in the California state court, stating that Archer stole confidential information.
The lawsuit states that Archer recruited George Kivork, who was Joby's U.S. State and Local Policy Lead, a position that gave him access to confidential files. It claims that Kivork took those confidential files two days before announcing his resignation on July 20. Archer is accused of then using that information to interfere with Joby's exclusive strategic partnership. Kivork is accused of breaking the confidentiality agreement he signed when he was hired at Joby.
Joby claims that it demanded that Kivork and Archer immediately cease using and return Joby's information on Aug. 11. Kivork repeatedly refused these demands through his attorney and Archer denies any wrongdoing.
"Joby alleges we used their trade secrets to win a 'deal' with a developer, but the reality is that Archer has no deal with this developer and Mr. Kivork did not bring any Joby confidential information to Archer," said Eric Lentell, Archer chief legal and strategy officer. "Joby knows these facts and is now improperly attempting to achieve through bad faith litigation what it cannot accomplish through fair competition. Archer remains focused on building the future of advanced aviation in America."
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Joby has requested an unspecified amount of monetary damages and a court order blocking Archer from misusing its trade secrets. A court hearing in the case is set for March 20, according to Air Data News. Archer settled a separate, similar claim from Boeing's Wisk in 2023, after being accused of misappropriating Wisk's trade secrets in the development of its eVTOL aircraft.