Wisk Aero LLC v. Archer Aviation Inc.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 WISK AERO LLC, Case No. 3:21-cv-02450-WHO

Plaintiff,

ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR

v. SANCTIONS

ARCHER AVIATION INC., Re: Dkt. No. 384 Defendant.

12 Plaintiff Wisk Aero moves for sanctions against defendant Archer Aviation based on the conduct of one of Archer’s employees, Scott Furman, who allegedly spoliated relevant electronically stored information. Furman’s conduct was wrongful, though it may not have been intended to deprive Wisk of any relevant discovery in this litigation. And there is no evidence that Archer was aware of his conduct before it learned of the actions and disclosed them to Wisk and the court. Because Wisk does not show prejudice from the alleged deletion, let alone show that most of the information was actually deleted, its motion for sanctions is denied. BACKGROUND This ongoing dispute concerns patents and trade secrets, and the factual background is laid out in…