Jury finds Boeing stole technology from electric airplane startup Zunum
A federal court jury in Seattle on Thursday ruled against Boeing in a lawsuit brought by failed electric airplane startup Zunum and awarded $81 million in damages — which the judge has the option to triple.
Zunum alleged that Boeing, while ostensibly investing seed money to get the startup off the ground, stole Zunum’s technology and actively undermined its attempts to build a business.
It accused Boeing of “a targeted and coordinated campaign” to gain access to its “business plan, market and technological analysis, and other trade secrets and proprietary information,” then using that to develop its own hybrid-electric plane design.
Zunum also accused Boeing of sabotaging its efforts to attract funding from aerospace suppliers Safran and United Technologies.
It also found that Boeing’s actions were “willful and malicious,” which opens the door for the judge to award triple damages plus legal costs in a case that has already been running for more than four years.
