Archer Aviation sues rival Vertical, alleging air taxi design patent infringement

Archer Aviation sues rival Vertical, alleging air taxi design patent infringement

Archer Aviation alleged that Vertical’s Valo aircraft “mimics” its own Midnight aircraft....

Archer sues Vertical over Valo eVTOL design

Archer Aviation filed a patent infringement lawsuit against rival eVTOL developer Vertical Aerospace, alleging that Vertical’s newly unveiled Valo aircraft copies protected elements of Archer’s Midnight design.  Archer filed the complaint on February 23, 2026, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The company alleges that Vertical infringed two US design patents covering the Midnight’s external appearance and one utility pa…

Archer claims Vertical has infringed patent eVTOL design – Vertical offers robust response

Archer has filed a patent infringement complaint in the Eastern District of Texas to stop Vertical from what it claims is copying Archer’s Midnight Aircraft design, in Vertical’s new Valo configuration. According to a background statement from Archer: “After years of developing its VX4 aircraft, Vertical has abandoned that design and unveiled a new aircraft, Valo, which is a visual “mimic” of Archer’s Midnight aircraft’s award-winning industrial…

Archer Aviation’s Patent Battle With Vertical Aerospace Threatens to Ground the Air Taxi Industry’s Biggest Ambitions

A high-stakes patent infringement lawsuit between two of the most prominent electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) companies is casting a long shadow over the nascent air taxi sector, raising uncomfortable questions about intellectual property, competitive strategy, and whether the industry’s rapid growth could be stalled by courtroom battles before a single commercial passenger is carried. Vertical Aerospace, the Bristol, England-based e…