Overview
- Joby filed the complaint in Santa Cruz County Superior Court on Wednesday, accusing Archer and former employee George Kivork of misappropriating confidential business, partnership, and technical files.
- The suit says Kivork downloaded Joby documents and sent some to a personal account two days before resigning in July, then altered permissions to keep accessing hundreds more after leaving.
- Joby alleges Archer then approached its strategic real-estate partner with a richer proposal that reflected highly confidential terms, after which the developer moved to terminate Joby’s agreement citing a confidentiality breach.
- Archer calls the lawsuit baseless, says the complaint identifies no specific trade secret or evidence of misappropriation, and tells Khaleej Times it has no deal with the developer and received no Joby confidential data from Kivork.
- Joby seeks damages and an order barring use of its information, with a hearing set for March 20, 2026, as eVTOL rivals press toward FAA certification and carry reputational baggage from prior disputes such as Archer’s 2023 settlement with Wisk.