As two Northern California air taxi rivals remain embroiled in lawsuits over alleged trade-secret theft and patent infringement, one is expanding into aerospace and defense through a deal to acquire three Boeing-owned businesses.Back in 2024, San Jose-based Archer Aviation proposed a Bay Area air ta xi network connecting South San Francisco, Oakland, Napa, Livermore, and San Jose. The company said at the time that its four-passenger Midnight aircraft could replace drives of an hour or more with flights lasting 10 to 20 minutes, at prices competitive with ground transportation.Over the weekend, Archer showcased its latest Bay Area flights as part of its “No Roads” tour through a glossy PR campaign without providing any sort of prospective launch date, as the company has been mired in ongoing legal battles. Archer has now begun expanding beyond its plans for electric air taxis with a deal to acquire three Boeing-owned aerospace businesses, including Insitu, which manufactures uncrewed aircraft systems used in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, Wisk Aero, an electric air taxi developer, and SkyGrid, which develops technology for managing autonomous aircraft, according to Archer's website. Archer says that it plans to combine these systems with its own aircraft and artificial intelligence technology, including its ZEE platform, to develop products for commercial aviation, defense, and air traffic management.Prior to the deal, Wisk sued Archer in 2021 over alleged trade secret theft and patent infringement, according to Aviation International News. Wisk claimed a departing engineer took thousands of proprietary files and that Archer's two-seat Maker aircraft demonstrator copied the patented design of Wisk's sixth-generation aircraft. Archer disputed the allegations, arguing that Wisk filed its patent application after learning about Archer's design.Federal prosecutors reportedly declined to charge the former Wisk engineer in February 2023. Later that year, the companies settled days before trial. Archer agreed to deliver more than 13 million shares, nominally valued at $73 million at the time, and named Wisk its exclusive provider of autonomous flight technology. Boeing also made an undisclosed investment in Archer as part of a $215 million funding round.“This is a watershed moment for Archer and the future of physical AI in aerospace and defense,” Archer founder and CEO Adam Goldstein said in the announcement.The expansion comes as Archer and its main electric air taxi rival, Santa Cruz-based Joby Aviation, face ongoing legal battles while trying to bring their aircraft into commercial service. As SFist reported in 2024, both companies are developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, known as eVTOLs, intended to ferry passengers over congested urban roads.Joby Aviation began conducting public demonstration flights around the Bay Area earlier this year, as SFist reported in March. The company flew its piloted, four-passenger electric aircraft from Oakland International Airport across the Bay to the Marin Headlands and back, passing Alcatraz along the way.Joby sued Archer in 2025, alleging that former Joby employee George Kivork took confidential information about business strategies, partnership terms, and aircraft specifications when he joined Archer, as Reuters reported earlier this month. According to the lawsuit, a forensic investigation found that Kivork had sent dozens of Joby files to a personal email account and changed security permissions on hundreds of additional files to access them after leaving the company.Joby also alleged that Archer used its trade secrets to undermine an agreement with a real estate developer. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and an order barring Archer from using the allegedly stolen information.In September, a federal judge narrowed Joby’s claims against Archer in their ongoing trade secrets dispute, according to Reuters. The Los Angeles Times reports that Archer has also countersued Joby, accusing the rival of concealing its ties to China and misclassifying Chinese-made aircraft materials to avoid tariffs, though a judge dismissed Archer’s amended counterclaims in September. Separately, Archer has asked the US International Trade Commission to block imports of Joby aircraft and components that it alleges infringe five of its patents.Archer has since brought its own legal action against another competitor, filing a patent infringement lawsuit against Vertical Aerospace earlier this year over its aircraft designs.The legal disputes come as both Archer and Joby work toward FAA certification, a key step toward operating commercial passenger services in the United States. Joby has five aircraft flying, including one built to conform to FAA standards, but its certification timeline remains uncertain. Per the LA Times, Archer has said it aims to launch service in Los Angeles in time for the 2028 Olympics, while Joby is pursuing an earlier international launch, with plans to introduce air taxi service in the United Arab Emirates. The companies are competing in an industry that has attracted major automakers, airlines, and investors, while facing uncertainty about the cost and time required to bring the air taxis into regular service.Previously: Air Taxi Service Plans 2025 Launch In Bay Area, Offering Rides Between Napa, Livermore, San Jose, and South SF ...read more read less