• Principal practice groups
• Specialist practice groups
  • Clean Technology group
  • Aerospace and Defence group
  • Contentious Practice group
  • Medical Devices group
  • Higher Education group
• What we do
• Withers & Rogers Renewals LLP

We work with a range of clients - civil and military - who manufacture products used in the aerospace and defence industries.

Our experience

Our experience includes advising clients involved in the production of composite airframe technologies, landing gear, aero-engines, aircraft power distribution systems, flight control sticks, sonar systems, anti-submarine surveillance systems, fuel systems, wing and fuselage design, actuators, gas turbine engines, aero engine hatches and modular launch systems for spacecraft.

Our clients include European & UK based multi-national aerospace firms who provide complete aircraft and aero engines, as well as direct UK clients within the defence sector.

Our expertise

Headed by Jim Ribeiro, the group has a number of members of who are security cleared to advise on the protection of inventions which are subject to Government secrecy orders. Withers & Rogers is also a List-X company, with the secure file storage available at our London office. Among the team are people with patent examiner and industry experience.

Wider perspectives

We are also members of the West of England Aerospace Forum (WEAF) and the Midlands Aerospace Alliance (MAA). Both forums help keep us abreast of key issues and activities within the sector and bring us into close contact with some of its leading players.

Group members

Simon Beck - has had practical experience working in an aerospace electronics company that dealt with FLIR and weapons deployments systems. His work as a patent attorney includes drafting patents for fuel metering and delivery systems, torque limiters, tertiary locking systems for thrust reversers, flight control surface synchronisers, avionics control systems, and fault tolerant distributed control systems. Other work includes bearings for propeller blades, aircraft air purifiers, sonar buoys and compact heat pumps for cooling IR sensors, CVT gearboxes for avionics use and switched reluctance electrical machines suited for use as starter generators.

Michael Blatchford - started out as a radio frequency engineer before entering the patent profession and much of Michael's patent drafting and prosecution work has been concerned with the sensing and processing of signals carried by electromagnetic radiation. He has covered communication systems in general, radio receiver and transmitter systems, analogue and digital signal processing systems, oscillators and antennas, his work also including receivers and antennas for GPS satellite navigation and time reference applications. His experience extends, as well, to work on security systems, missile guidance and control devices, and adaptive arrays for radar.

Dave Croston - has a background in mechanical engineering specialising in fluid dynamics and advanced materials including testing of flow properties of high explosive and artillery propellant. As a patent attorney, Dave has handled cases involving airframe design, testing and manufacture, flight control surfaces, gas turbine fan blades, turbojet fuel delivery systems, aircraft hatch latching systems and modular rocket launch systems. Dave is also a keen paraglider pilot.

James Gray - has Aerospace sector experience in such fields as airframe construction, aircrew evacuation systems and UAV systems. Within the defence field, James has prosecuted patent applications related to military vehicle propulsion systems, and ballistic body armour construction and testing.

David McWilliams - David 's professional background includes a period as a patent office examiner handling patent applications for aircraft braking systems (control systems, heat packs etc), and he has been attending Midlands Aerospace Alliance events for several years. He has a wide experience in drafting and prosecuting automotive-related patent applications, including driveline systems specifically for military vehicles, and also has clients involved in armour testing and development.

Andrew Mears - worked for Rolls-Royce plc as an engineer and in the patents department. Andrew's experience covers a wide range of gas turbine technologies for both aerospace and marine applications. In particular, Andrew's experience relates to control systems for gas turbine engines.

Jim Ribeiro - Jim heads the Aerospace & Defence specialist practice group and has experience in a wide range of aerospace technologies, including airframe design, composite materials and manufacturing techniques, fuel systems, control surfaces (slats, flaps, ailerons etc.), flight control systems, and gas turbine fan blades. Jim's experience in the defence sector includes telecommunications surveillance systems, countermeasures, and sonar systems.

Phil Sanger - has worked both as an engineer and a patent attorney in the aerospace sector. His engineering experience includes working for Rolls-Royce PLC in the design of gas turbine secondary air systems. As a patent attorney he has experience in the areas of control surface actuation, fuel systems and composite design and inspection, amongst others.

Callum Wardle - has Aerospace sector experience in such fields as composite airframe construction, landing gear systems, control surfaces and fuel transfer systems. Within the Defence field Callum has prosecuted patent applications related to submarine anti-sonar systems, helicopter rotor blade monitoring systems and auxiliary power units for aircraft.

Richard Worthington - Richard has a Masters degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College, London and patent experience in various current aerospace technologies, such as advanced composite design and manufacture, high-lift device drag and noise reduction, and ice management. His interest in the defence sector stems from the several years he spent training with the Territorial Army whilst at university, and he has technical experience in submarine communications systems.