Joby Aero, Inc. has secured a major milestone in aviation with a newly patented design for advanced aerial vehicles. This innovation focuses on their recent patent, titled ‘Electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft’, which proudly won Swanson Reed’s patent of the month in the Aviation, Aerospace and Space Technology industry for January 2026 for being an outstanding invention. The patent describes an aerial vehicle adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using a set of wing mounted thrust producing elements for takeoff and landing. An aerial vehicle which is adapted to vertical takeoff with the rotors in a rotated, take-off attitude then transitions to a horizontal flight path, with the rotors rotated to a typical horizontal configuration. The aerial vehicle may have deployment mechanisms which deploy electric motor driven propellers from a forward facing to a vertical orientation. The aerial vehicle may have rear mounted rotors adapted to vertical takeoff with the rotors in a rotated, take-off attitude then transitions to a horizontal flight path, with the rotors rotated to a typical horizontal configuration. The aerial vehicle may be powered with electric motors.

Revolutionizing Vertical Take-off and Landing

This electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) technology is a prime candidate for the U.S. Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit because its development process aligns with the IRS Four-Part Test:

• Permitted Purpose: Joby Aero designed a new, highly improved aerial vehicle to increase functionality, performance, and reliability in vertical and horizontal flight modes.
• Technological in Nature: The research and design fundamentally rely on the hard sciences, specifically aerospace engineering, physics, and electrical engineering.
• Elimination of Uncertainty: The engineers had to overcome complex technical uncertainties regarding how to safely and efficiently transition rotors between a vertical take-off attitude and a typical horizontal configuration.
• Process of Experimentation: The design required iterative modeling, aerodynamic simulations, and prototype testing to evaluate deployment mechanisms and structural load limits.

3 Practical Applications Meeting R&D Tax Credit Rules

1. Aerodynamic Simulation and Mechanism Design: Engineering and testing the physical deployment mechanisms that rotate electric motor-driven propellers from a forward-facing to a vertical orientation, ensuring the mechanisms can withstand heavy aerodynamic loads during flight transition.
2. Flight Control Software Development: Designing, coding, and testing the proprietary software algorithms necessary to stabilize the aircraft and manage thrust elements as it transitions seamlessly from a vertical hover to a horizontal flight path.
3. Electric Power and Thrust Optimization: Experimenting with electric motor power configurations and battery distributions to guarantee that enough thrust is generated for lift during vertical take-off while maintaining optimal energy efficiency for sustained horizontal flight.