Aidan McFord

Aidan is a UK patent attorney in our chemistry and materials team.

Aidan works at all stages of the patent lifecycle, from invention capture, drafting, and prosecuting patent applications, through to oppositions at the EPO. He is also experienced in conducting freedom-to-operate and validity analyses.

Recognising that every case is different, Aidan focuses on giving tailored, practical advice to support clients ranging from start-ups and university spin-outs to multinational consumer products companies and major industrial chemistry corporations.

Consumer products and green, sustainable chemical technologies are of particular interest to Aidan. He also has a keen interest in cheminformatics and is excited by its increasing role in invention capture and design.

EPO Oppositions

Despite only entering the profession in 2022, Aidan has been involved in several successful opposition cases at the EPO. In particular, Aidan has led the preparation of written arguments in several defensive oppositions, including:

EP3816230 and EP3816231: EMS-Chemie AG vs Toray Industries, Inc. Successful defence of these patents relating to polyamide resin compositions for molded products exposed to high-pressure hydrogen. In both cases, an entirely positive preliminary opinion was issued, causing the Opponent to withdraw and termination of the opposition proceedings.

EP3296348: Treofan Germany GmbH & Co. KG vs Toray Industries Inc. Successful defence of this patent relating to a polypropylene film for a capacitor.

Qualifications and Technical Background

Aidan has an MSci degree in Chemistry and a PhD in Chemical Synthesis from the University of Bristol. He has a diverse technical background, with expertise in transition metal catalysis, data-driven molecular design, computational chemistry, and physical organic chemistry, particularly in the context of molecular machines. He also has experience in biofuel production and carbohydrate chemistry for antimicrobial probes.

Regarding Aidan’s interest in cheminformatics, he developed a novel steric parameter for the in silico assessment of molecular scaffolds, for methodology development, during his time at the University of Bristol.

Professional Career

Aidan joined Mewburn Ellis LLP in 2022. Since joining, Aidan passed the Bournemouth University Postgraduate Certificate in Intellectual Property Law in 2023, and became a qualified UK Patent Attorney in 2025.

Memberships and Affiliations

Aidan is a member of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA).