Electric air taxis are stuck in the courtroom

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Last year, two major US air taxi companies, Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation, sued each other, with Joby accusing Archer of corporate espionage and Archer claiming that Joby was concealing its ties to China. Then, in February this year, Archer filed a patent infringement suit against a separate air taxi rival, Vertical Aerospace, accusing it of copying the “Midnight” design for its “Velo” aircraft.

The fights come less than two years after Archer settled its dispute with Boeing-backed Wisk Aero over the alleged theft of trade secrets — only to have the case reopened when Wisk asked the court for help enforcing the terms of the settlement.

These heated court battles are unfolding at a uncertain time for the air taxi industry, just as it is trying to position its technology as an important new means of urban mobility, with the potential to shuttle passengers around cities without the noise or carbon pollution of a traditional helicopter.

Despite these promises, the industry is facing a lot of ups and downs. Air taxi shares have lost much of their value over the past several years as the certification deadline continues to inch closer. As deadlines are getting longer, budgets are shrinking. And investors, already concerned about the industry’s ability to gain regulatory approval, are becoming more concerned about the enormous costs required by these lawsuits.

As companies race to dominate a new, potentially billion-dollar aviation industry, these disputes over intellectual property, competition and talent are giving rise to an aggressive wave of litigation that could inevitably make it even more difficult for the electric air taxi industry to get off the ground.

Located just an hour away from each other in the San Francisco Bay Area, Joby and Archer have become arch rivals in the race to become the Uber of the sky. In the past year, they have been embroiled in a series of suits and countersuits that take digs at their products and progress.

In a lawsuit filed in November 2025, Joby accused Archer of corporate espionage, citing a former Joby employee who had left to work for Archer. Joby alleges that the former employee stole technical information and stakeholder communications to provide to his new employer. “Archer brazenly used the stolen information,” Joby claims in his complaint.

In March this year, Archer clapped back at Joby, accusing it of defrauding the US government by misclassifying components imported from China. Archer claimed the scheme involved China classifying aircraft parts as consumer goods such as “hair clips” and “socks”. The response appears to have paid off; A month later, the International Trade Commission began an investigation into Joby’s ties to China, investigating whether the company violated tariffs or patent laws. The ongoing investigation may delay Joby’s plans to launch an air taxi service by 2028.

But Joby isn’t the only rival in Archer’s crosshairs. In February, Archer filed a lawsuit against UK-based Vertical Aerospace, accusing it of manipulating its eVTOL designs. The Archer Midnight and Vertical 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 150 mph and a maximum range of 100 miles.

“It is clear that Vertical’s Valo aircraft copies many of Midnight’s most distinctive design features,” Eric Lentel, Archer’s chief strategy and legal officer, said in a statement. The Verge. Vertical Aerospace spokesman Justin Bates said Archer’s claims were “without merit” and a “distraction” from the company’s challenges in the market.

No air taxi company has fully met the rigorous FAA type certification required to fly passengers commercially in the US. But both Joby and Archer claim they are close.

Joby is widely considered the front runner, having progressed through all four stages of the type certification process. The company produces approximately one aircraft per month and is currently working on a production version that will go through the FAA’s certification process. In April, Joby demonstrated one of its aircraft flying from JFK Airport to Lower Manhattan as a preview of future air taxi routes. The company plans to launch its first passenger service later this year in Dubai, where certification requirements are less stringent than in the US.

Meanwhile, Archer is still working on the 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.

But investors have been less impressed by companies’ claims of being at the peak of commercial viability. At the time of publication, Joby’s stock has lost about 35 percent of its value since the beginning of the year, while Archer’s stock has fallen about 33 percent.

With so much at stake, it’s no surprise that these companies are using their legal teams to blow each other out of the water. The talent pool is small, so controversies over trade secrets and corporate espionage were in some ways inevitable. And because FAA certification is an absolute requirement for future air taxi service, regulatory compliance has become another line of attack.

But these lawsuits are also sending a message to investors, regulators and potential future travelers: Buckle up, because there’s turbulence ahead.