Joby Aviation ordered to pay $117 million in trade secrets case

A jury in Tampa, Florida, has ordered Joby Aviation to pay $116.9 million to Aerosonic, a supplier of aircraft measurement equipment, after finding the electric vertical take-off developer misused confidential information belonging to the supplier. The verdict was returned on 2 October.

The dispute centres on pressure probes. These measure air pressure around an aircraft to provide speed and altitude data. Aerosonic and Joby signed an agreement in 2021 not to share confidential information, and Aerosonic delivered probes to Joby a year later. Aerosonic argued that Joby used its know-how to build the probes itself, cutting development time from roughly ten years to about two.

Jurors agreed and judged Joby's conduct wilful and malicious, according to the account of the case. They awarded Aerosonic close to $69 million for breach of the confidentiality agreement, around $30 million for misuse of trade secrets, and slightly more than $18 million in additional punitive damages.

Joby denies the allegations. It had filed a counterclaim accusing Aerosonic of supplying defective probes, a claim the source does not describe in further detail.

The ruling comes as Joby prepares to begin its first commercial flights in Dubai and is carrying out intensive testing of its aircraft in Texas.