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Boeing–Zunum $72M Verdict: What the Jury Found and What Happens Next

A jury awarded Zunum Aero damages in its trade-secrets case against Boeing. The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s decision to vacate the verdict, but the latest located order leaves the case on remand—not a confirmed payment or final money judgment.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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The roughly $72 million figure refers to a jury award in Zunum Aero’s trade-secrets lawsuit against Boeing, not money Boeing is confirmed to have paid or a final judgment now in force. The jury awarded $67.08 million in trade-secret actual damages and $14.15 million in unjust enrichment, plus a separate $11.56 million for interference involving investor Safran; it also found $20.82 million in damages Zunum had failed to mitigate. The district court later vacated the verdict, but the Ninth Circuit reversed that post-trial decision. The case remains on remand, and the latest located order does not establish a current enforceable damages judgment.

What does the $72 million figure include?

The headline figure is a rounded, mitigation-adjusted shorthand for the jury’s award. The jury’s gross award categories were larger than $92 million before its mitigation finding. The Ninth Circuit’s August 2026 order recounts these amounts; the district court’s 2024 post-trial order records the mitigation finding.

Jury finding or award Amount How to read it
Trade-secret actual damages $67.08 million One component of the trade-secret award.
Trade-secret unjust enrichment $14.15 million A second component of the trade-secret award.
Interference with Zunum’s Safran business expectancy $11.56 million A separate award, not part of the trade-secret award.
Damages the jury found Zunum failed to mitigate $20.82 million A mitigation finding affecting the damages calculation; the headline’s rounded figure should not be treated as a simple sum of the gross awards.

The jury did not award separate breach-of-contract damages, avoiding double recovery. The Ninth Circuit described the jury as awarding more than $92 million across the trade-secret and tortious-interference claims before accounting for mitigation. The figures and procedural history are set out in the Ninth Circuit’s August 26, 2026 order; the mitigation finding appears in the Western District of Washington’s 2024 post-trial order.

What did the jury find Boeing did?

Zunum alleged that Boeing and other defendants misused confidential business and technical information tied to Zunum’s hybrid-electric aircraft work. After an eight-day trial in May 2024, the jury found Boeing had misappropriated 11 of the 19 alleged trade secrets presented at trial. It also found a breach of one of two contracts and tortious interference with Zunum’s business expectancy with potential investor Safran.

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The verdict was not a win on every claim. The jury rejected Zunum’s claim that Boeing breached the 2016 Proprietary Information Agreement and rejected its interference claim involving UTAS. It also found that Zunum had failed to mitigate some of its damages. Boeing said after the verdict that it disagreed and that it was not supported by the law or facts, according to GeekWire’s June 5, 2024 report.

Why was the verdict vacated, and what did the appeals court do?

After trial, the district court granted Boeing judgment as a matter of law and conditionally granted a new trial, vacating the jury verdict. The Ninth Circuit’s August 26, 2026 order recounts that the district court “granted Boeing’s motion for judgment as a matter of law (“JMOL”) and Boeing’s motion for a conditional new trial and thus vacated the jury verdict.” In August 2025, the Ninth Circuit reversed those post-trial rulings. On August 26, 2026, it denied Boeing’s petitions for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc.

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The appeals court also rejected Boeing’s argument that the Federal Circuit, rather than the Ninth Circuit, had jurisdiction. It concluded that Boeing’s patent-inventorship counterclaims were permissive, not compulsory, and that the district court properly exercised supplemental jurisdiction over Zunum’s state-law claims. The appellate court directed that the case be reassigned to a different district judge on remand.

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What happens next, and is Boeing required to pay now?

The latest located appellate order leaves the case remanded for further proceedings before a different district judge. The Ninth Circuit gave a reason for reassignment: the original district judge acquired Boeing stock twice through his spouse during the case and did not promptly disclose those transactions to the parties. That is the court’s stated basis for reassignment; it does not resolve the merits of Zunum’s claims.

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No later district-court action after the August 26, 2026 rehearing order is established here. Accordingly, it would be inaccurate to say that Boeing has paid the headline amount or that a final money judgment is currently in force. The appellate ruling reversed the district court’s post-trial disposition, but the case’s further proceedings on remand remain material to its present status.

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