Bernard P. Tomsa

Specialty / focus. Bernard P. Tomsa is a registered patent attorney (USPTO Reg. No. 60,121) whose tracked litigation work sits at the PTAB rather than district court, defending U.S. Patent No. 9,955,551 (vehicle lighting/illumination devices) and related Spero-family patents against IPR challenges. His prosecution practice is software- and computer-science-heavy — he has drafted hundreds of patents covering automotive software, digital circuits, databases, wireless/smartphone applications, and digital content delivery — with large portfolio work for multinationals including Ford Global Technologies, BOE, Lear, VIVO, Harman, Airbus Helicopters, and Volvo (per USPTO practitioner records).

Side preference. All three tracked appearances are defendant-side (0 plaintiff). In each, he represented patent owner/inventor Yechezkal Evan Spero (via Torchlight Technologies entities) against IPR petitions filed by operating companies — Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and Unified Patents. He therefore defends patent-owner interests against validity challenges brought by automakers and PAE-challenging petitioners, while his day-to-day prosecution work serves operating companies. He has not appeared as plaintiff-side counsel in the tracked data.

Firm context. Tomsa is a partner/shareholder at Brooks Kushman P.C. (Southfield/Royal Oak, Michigan), where he has appeared as counsel in all three tracked matters. A PlainSite database listing also associates him with Dallas-based Slater & Matsil LLP as outside counsel on patent matters; that prior affiliation could not be independently confirmed from firm sources.

Notable cases / outcomes. The most prominent tracked matters are the Spero IPRs: Volkswagen Group of America v. Spero (IPR2023-00315 and IPR2023-00197), Mercedes-Benz USA v. Spero (IPR2023-01026/01027, IPR2023-01039/01040), and Unified Patents v. Torchlight Technologies (IPR2022-01500). Brooks Kushman announced in June 2024 that the PTAB issued a favorable final written decision in IPR2023-00315 (Volkswagen et al. v. Spero, '551 patent), ruling the petitioners failed to prove any of claims 25, 27, 33, 35, 41, 43, and 48–55 unpatentable; Tomsa was one of four firm attorneys on the matter.

PTAB / IPR experience. Yes — his tracked docket is almost entirely IPR work, and he appears regularly before the Board, chiefly as back-up counsel on Spero family matters led by Sangeeta Shah, plus ex parte appeal work in Tech Center 2800 (semiconductor/optical arts).

Bar / education. B.S.E. in Computer Science, University of Michigan (2003); J.D., George Mason University School of Law (2006); admitted to the Virginia Bar (2006) and registered with the USPTO.