SEATTLE — A jury has found that Boeing stole trade secrets of a small aerospace startup in Redmond that planned to build a hybrid-electric aircraft.
The jury awarded Zunum Aero, Inc. nearly $90 million in damages in a verdict that a Seattle federal judge could triple to around $250 million. A lawyer for the plaintiff said the exact damages were still being determined.
The verdict ends a David vs. Goliath lawsuit filed in 2020 by two MIT graduates who founded Zunum. The lawsuit said Boeing sought to invest in Zunum’s aircraft which would make hybrid-electric air travel “… economically viable decades sooner that the aerospace industry otherwise thought possible.” Zunum claimed Boeing sent engineers and other personnel to conduct due diligence on its investment, but then stole information and trade secrets.
Zunum said “Boeing strung Zunum along with assurances that Boeing would invest in Zunum,” but instead it committed tortious interference with Zunum suppliers and “sabotaged Zunum’s efforts to attract additional investors.”
The federal jury largely agreed finding Boeing guilty of the theft of 16 of 19 trade secrets presented at trial.
The jury awarded $67.08 million in compensation for harm from the trade secret theft, $14.15 million for Boeing’s unjust enrichment, and $11.56 million for tortious interference, among other findings.
The jury said the Boeing's theft of trade secrets was “willful and malicious,” which would allow Judge James Robart to impose treble damages.
In a statement, the company said “Boeing respectfully disagrees with the jury’s verdict, which is not supported by the law or the facts. Boeing will pursue all available challenges to the judgment.”