(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

Two major players racing to take their flying taxis or eVOTL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft to market next year are in a legal battle over claims of corporate espionage and stealing trade secrets.

The lawsuit was filed miles away from the UAE – at a state court in Santa Cruz, California, USA – but both California-based aviation companies have high stakes in the Emirates as they are in the advance stage of testing their respective aerial technologies prior to commercial launch of aerial taxi in Dubai and Abu Dhabi next year.

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The case was filed on Wednesday (November 19) by Joby Aviation accusing its rival, Archer Aviation, of using stolen information from a former Joby employee to land a partnership deal with a real estate developer in the US.

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Joby alleged it was“corporate espionage - planned and premeditated.” Archer Aviation categorically denied the accusation and its chief legal & strategy officer who was at the Dubai Airshow 2025 sent a statement to Khaleej Times on Friday (November 21).

Joby said its former employee, George Kivork, who served as its US state and local policy lead, refused to return the alleged stolen files when approached by the company.

According to a CNBC report, a hearing is scheduled for March 20, 2026. Here are what we know so far about the case:

What are the accusations?

Joby accused Archer of hiring George Kivork, a former Joby employee, who took confidential information to Archer about its business strategies, partnership terms and aircraft specifications.

Joby claimed Archer misused its trade secrets - allegedly acquired from Kivork - in an August bid to undercut Joby's contract with a real-estate developer. The developer told Joby that Archer knew confidential details of the agreement and that Kivork must have shared them with his new employer, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit said Joby learned from a forensic data investigation that Kivork had sent dozens of Joby's files to a personal email account and changed security permissions for hundreds of others so he could access them after he left.

What is the case?

The case is about corporate espionage or the“act of stealing proprietary information, trade secrets, or intellectual property from a business and giving or selling it to another.”

Corporate espionage happens when sensitive information like a trade secret is taken from one company and given to another. According to Investopedia,“most of the time, people conducting corporate theft are being paid in some form to take the information. But sometimes disgruntled employees or ex-employees can give trade secrets to competitors to "get back" at a company they feel wronged by.”

The US Congress enacted the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 to protect intellectual property and trade secrets. Stealing secrets from companies and making the practice is a US federal crime.

How did Archer respond?

In a statement sent to Khaleej Times on Friday, Archer chief legal strategy officer Eric Lentell, who was attending the Dubai Airshow, said:“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.”

Lentell categorically denied the accusation and said it was“bad faith litigation”. He, however, declined to comment to a question by Khaleej Times if they are going to file a counter lawsuit.

“Joby is now improperly attempting to achieve through bad faith litigation what it cannot accomplish through fair competition,” added Lentell, noting:“Archer remains focused on building the future of advanced aviation in America.”

What was Joby's reaction?

A Reuters report said“Joby declined to comment beyond the text of (their) complaint.”

Joby requested an unspecified amount of monetary damages and a court order blocking Archer from misusing its trade secrets.

A hearing is scheduled for March 20, 2026.

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