A federal jury found that Boeing Trade secrets misappropriated from Zunum, a failed electric airplane startup. Aircraft manufacturer is a major investor in Zunum through its venture capital arm, Horizon X. The electric startup claims that Boeing launched a targeted campaign to steal proprietary information to develop developing its own hybrid-electric aircraft, Reuters reports. Boeing claims it only developed a simulation model to determine the feasibility of Zunum’s planned aircraft.
Zunum first revealed details about its planned revolutionary aircraft in 2017. The startup promised to deliver a hybrid plane with quick-swappable batteries integrated into the wings. The plane will carry nine passengers with a range of up to 700 miles. The aim is to disrupt the regional jet market with a low-emission, extremely fuel-efficient aircraft. However, this plane never materialized. By 2019, Zunumu ran out of money and collapsed. Based on Seattle TimesThe startup’s collapse was not unexpected:
In response to the lawsuit, Boeing lawyers wrote that the story of Zunum’s demise is simply the story of a typical failed startup.
“An ambitious startup’s reach has exceeded its control and investors have fled,” Boeing’s filing states. “What initially looked like an exciting investment prospect promising a new electric or electric aircraft has turned into a loss for Boeing.”
Instead of developing its own hybrid-electric design, Boeing said it is only developing a “concept model — a tool that Boeing uses to evaluate the feasibility of the type of aircraft Zunum hopes to build.” ”.
The conclusion it drew from that modeling was that “electric aircraft may no longer be economically viable for commercial passenger flights in the near term.”
Boeing said other potential Zunum investors had reached similar conclusions. It describes the lawsuit as “Zumum’s latest attempt to get more money from Boeing.”
The jury awarded Zunum $81 million in damages. U.S. District Judge James Robart could decide to triple that amount. Boeing is not done with this yet. In a statement, the company vowed to file any challenges to the ruling. It may take years until all of this is said and done. Boeing is still faces criminal charges about the two 737 Max crashes.
