• Principal practice groups
  • Advanced Engineering group
  • Electronics, Computing and Physics group
  • Life Sciences & Chemistry group
  • Trade Mark group
• Specialist practice groups
• What we do
• Withers & Rogers Renewals LLP

We advise clients in fields as diverse as medical devices, high performance commercial vehicle transmission and braking systems, consumer packaging, composite materials, oil and gas exploration, sporting goods, agricultural engineering, motorsport, building and construction equipment and aerospace technology to name but a few.

Our experience

Internationally, we advise for example first-tier automotive suppliers in the US and Japan, medical device manufacturers in the US, an Icelandic food processing company and a Malaysian petrochemical company. 

In the UK, we advise for example, a leading supplier of taps, shower and bathroom fittings, a global automotive engineering consultancy and the country’s biggest manufacturer of carrier bags.  We also advise and act for individuals, start-up companies, SMEs and a number of UK universities.

Our expertise

The group is headed by Adrian Chettle who is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.  The majority of the group’s members have first degrees in Mechanical Engineering and some have degrees in Materials Science, Aeronautical and Civil Engineering. Prior to becoming patent attorneys, two members of the group trained as patent examiners at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO). This gives us an in-depth insider perspective on the procedures and practices of the UK Intellectual Property Office. Dave Croston, patent attorney and group member, is qualified to act for clients in the High Court in litigation matters.

Some group members have spent valuable time in industry. This experience includes the design and testing of vehicle braking and transmission systems, aerospace gas turbine ancillary component design, the testing and evaluation of agricultural machinery, the non-destructive testing and evaluation of components, highway and rail infrastructure analysis,  vehicle-crash worthiness evaluation, and medical device design.

The way we work

Our focus is on providing real world, practical advice. AE group members have a genuine passion for and interest in the engineering technology of their clients. This interest and enthusiasm goes well beyond the merely academic. Group members have personal interests including racing and maintaining open wheel race cars, restoring vintage cars and motor cycles, and flying, which give actual practical experience of many of the aspects of engineering design with which we deal on a day-to-day basis. The strength and depth of specialist engineering expertise of our Advanced Engineering Group ensures an expert service for clients across the broad range of sectors in which we work.

We visit clients regularly and make an effort to get to know their business, seeking to understand how best to protect the fruits of their developments and how to ensure that the intellectual property protection that they seek genuinely adds value to their business.

We undertake regular quality assurance exercises and we seek feedback from our clients to ensure that our service is of the highest quality and remains relevant and useful. Work is passed between group members to ensure that it is handled by an attorney with the most relevant expertise and experience.

Our aim is to provide a service that is open, accessible and commercially relevant. We try to ensure that our language is free from jargon and that our advice contains clear recommendations, not tortuous legal analysis.

Wider perspectives

Helping us to understand the business and technological environment in which our clients operate, the Advanced Engineering Group has links with a number of industry bodies including the Motorsport Industry Association (MIA), the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Ingénieurs des Techniques de l'Automobile (FISITA), the Midlands Aerospace Alliance (MAA), the West of England Aerospace Forum (WEAF), the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). 

What our clients say

• “Covidien's Imaging Solutions business chooses to utilise Withers & Rogers' intellectual property services as they demonstrate a high level of competence with regard to our products and related technologies. Furthermore, they have a proven record of zealously advocating Covidien's legal position at the European Patent Office. On a personal note, we find W&R's professionals to be quite pleasant and enjoyable to work with. W&R is a valued part of our global IP team.”

  Kenneth D. Goetz Vice President, Intellectual Property - Imaging Solutions, Covidien

• "We use Withers & Rogers because they have an excellent understanding of our technology and industry. This allows them to give very accurate and commercial advice with a rapid response guaranteed. They have always been prepared to support us whatever the problem and give us the 'personal' approach that one would expect from a partnership. Having worked with them for over a decade, we would unreservedly recommend them to any business that takes their IP seriously."
  

  Mick Steele, Chief Executive, Food Service Concepts, a division of Alan Nuttall Ltd

• “We use Withers & Rogers because we have found them to provide extremely practical, commercial advice at very competitive rates in relation to our patent and I.P issues.”

  Peter Reay, Chief Executive Officer, i2r Packaging Solutions Limited

• “As a closure and container manufacturer serving a widely spread and competitive collection of markets, pharmaceutical, toiletries, beauty, household products and food, the development of our intellectual property portfolio is vital to our success. It is equally vital that we retain a first class firm of patent and trade mark attorneys; and over the last twenty years Withers & Rogers has filled that role admirably.

  "The professional care and expertise provided by Adrian Chettle and his team have been second to none. Adrian is always available to discuss ideas and his wealth of detailed knowledge has ensured that from the earliest stage, all of our concepts are fully worked up, that all patent implications are investigated and grounded and that our intellectual property is both protected and maximized.

  "Last year we acquired a substantial interest in a protective clothing and workwear distributor (GBR Workwear) where new designs and other innovations were a major source of competitive advantage. Again Adrian was of real assistance to us and I was amazed that, with little prior warning, he could apply his expertise to a totally different sector.

  "Over the years we have been pleased to recommend Withers & Rogers to a number of organizations and of course we will continue to do so. But not to any of our competitors, we don't want them to enjoy the advantage of Adrian's brand of service!"

  Rod Parker, Managing Director, Dragon Plastics Ltd 

• “Our patent advisers perform a key role in helping us to assess the real potential of our inventions. They carry out patent searches, often to very detailed technical criteria and provide information about any incumbent patents, which may limit the potential of our own work. Based on this knowledge, we can then take an informed decision about how to proceed.

  "Access to experienced patent advisors is crucial and it helps if they are ex-examiners, so they can tell us with some degree of certainty which inventions are likely to achieve patent protection and which are not.”
  

  John Wheals, Chief Engineer of Innovation, Ricardo

Group members

All members of our Advanced Engineering Group deal with a range of advanced engineering subject matter. If you need advice, please contact one of the following attorneys:

Automotive Engineering
Transmissions	Adrian Chettle John Jones James Gray David Croston Paul Foot David McWilliams Phil Sanger Nicola Anderson
Clutches
Brakes
Engines
Occupant Safety Systems
Access Controls
Exhausts and Emissions Systems
Suspension Systems
Trailers

 

Aerospace and Defence
Airframe Design and Manufacture	David Croston Richard Worthington John Jones Phil Sanger David McWilliams
Jet Engines
Aircraft Braking Systems

 

Packaging
Carrier Bags and Bag Dispensers	David Croston Paul Foot Ben Dempster David McWilliams Nicola Anderson
Food Packaging
Card Cartons
Pop-up P.O.S. Displays
Blow Moulded Plastics

 

Materials, Mining and Construction
Composite Materials	Ben Dempster Paul Foot David McWilliams Caroline Ditum
Metallurgy
Off road vehicles
Construction Plant
Geotechnics
Building Services
Structural Engineering
Downhole Technologies

 

Agricultural Engineering
Tractors	John Jones Adrian Chettle David Croston
Cultivation Systems
Wood Chippers/Shredders

 

Medical Devices
Medical Injection Apparatus	James Gray Adrian Chettle Paul Foot Phil Sanger
Infusion Pumps
Foetal Monitors
Biomedical Electrode Connectors
Dental Implants
Wound Coverings
Patient Fluid Infusion Systems
Needle Stick Injury Prevention

 

Clean Technologies
Wind Turbines	David McWilliams Phil Sanger Adrian Chettle John Jones Paul Foot Andrew Thompson
Water Turbines
Emission Controls
Domestic Waste Treatments
Waste Water Treatments

 

Higher Education
	David Croston James Gray

 

Contentious Practice
EPO Oppositions and Appeals	David Croston Adrian Chettle James Gray David McWilliams Ben Dempster
UKIPO Opinions
Patents County Court and Patent Court Actions