Joby Aviation has filed a lawsuit in California state court accusing rival Archer Aviation of stealing trade secrets, reported Reuters.

The complaint alleges that former Joby employee George Kivork took confidential information on business strategies, partnership terms and aircraft specifications to Archer after leaving the company in July.

Archer's chief legal and strategy officer Eric Lentell denied the claims, saying Joby is pursuing bad faith litigation. He insisted no confidential information was transferred and no deal was won using Joby's data.

Joby said a forensic probe found Mr Kivork had sent dozens of files to a personal email account and altered security permissions to retain access. The company claims Archer used the information to undercut a contract with a real-estate developer.

Joby, backed by Toyota, is racing with Archer to bring electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft to market. It plans to integrate helicopter and seaplane services into Uber's ride-sharing app next year.

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and a court order preventing Archer from using Joby's trade secrets. Archer previously settled separate trade-secret claims with Boeing's Wisk air-taxi subsidiary in 2023.