Vertical Aerospace countersues Archer over eVTOL propulsion patent

Vertical Aerospace has countersued US rival Archer Aviation, claiming that Archer's Midnight electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft infringes a Vertical patent on thermal management of its propulsion system. Vertical disclosed the counterclaim in a stock exchange notification and said it was filed on 6 October.

The patent is US number 12,747,027, granted on 29 September. It covers how air moves through a heat exchanger that forms part of the electric propulsion unit system. According to the claim, the design handles the different cooling demands of vertical and horizontal flight. In forward flight the aircraft can use ram air, but that flow is unavailable during vertical take-off, landing or hovering, which Vertical says creates a thermal management problem.

Vertical says its solution sends airflow generated by a propulsor to a heat exchanger that regulates the propulsor's drive system, reducing or removing the need for separate cooling equipment.

The counterclaim answers legal action Archer brought in February, alleging that Vertical's Valo eVTOL infringes three Archer patents: two covering the design of its Midnight aircraft and one covering its flight-control system. Vertical denies those claims and has called them threadbare allegations. The dispute between the two air taxi developers continues.