Brooks Kushman P.C. announced today that Mark S. Sparschu and Timothy J. Quinlan have joined the law firm. Bringing more than 35 years of combined legal experience, Sparschu and Quinlan will further strengthen and expand Brooks Kushman`s trademark and litigation departments. The announcement was made by Brooks Kushman President Mark A. Cantor.
Sparschu and Quinlan join the leading intellectual property (IP) law firm as senior attorneys and will be responsible for client counseling in trademark and other IP law matters, including brand protection and trademark development, clearance, counterfeiting and litigation.
“Mark and Tim`s extensive IP expertise is a great complement to our successful intellectual property practice,” Cantor said. “Their combined experience will help us better protect and manage our clients` ideas, products and technologies that give them the competitive advantage in their field.”
Most recently, Sparschu served as chief trademark counsel for Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, Mich., where he had overall responsibility for the trademark law matters for Ford and its worldwide subsidiaries, including the Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar and Aston Martin brands. In this capacity, he led a group of eight trademark professionals in four countries and outside counsel throughout the world.
Prior to that, he worked at Volvo Car Corp. in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he served as chief patent and trademark counsel. In this role, Sparschu had overall responsibility for all patent and trademark law matters. Previously, he served as patent counsel for Ford, responsible for various patent law matters for the company`s vehicle and component businesses. He began his career at General Motors Corp., where he held engineering-focused positions of increasing responsibility.
Sparschu earned a juris doctor degree, graduating with honors, from Wayne State University in Detroit, a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree, graduating first in his class, from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) in Flint, Mich. Sparschu is a registered patent attorney, licensed professional engineer, as well as a member of the State Bar of Michigan, Michigan IP Law Association and International Trademark Association (INTA).
Quinlan also joins Brooks Kushman from Ford, where he served the automaker as counsel since 1996. In this position, he managed Ford`s product liability and litigation matters for the western United States, led the discovery team for vehicle rollover and roof-crush litigation (where he coordinated Ford`s discovery matters related to the Firestone / Explorer litigation) and was responsible for trademark clearance, licensing, brand enforcement and anti-counterfeit litigation for many of the Ford brands, including Aston Martin, Land Rover and Jaguar.
Prior to Ford, he served as an equity partner at the law firm of Cabaniss, Burke & Wagner in Orlando, Fla., which he joined in 1993 as a senior associate. Previously, Quinlan served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, where he worked closely with the United States Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Customs (now the Department of Homeland Security), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (now the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) in criminal investigations and prosecutions.
He began his legal career in 1987 as an associate at the Orlando-based law firm of Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell.
Quinlan earned his juris doctor degree, graduating with honors, from the University of Florida in Gainesville, a master`s degree in theological studies from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill. and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Lake Forest College in Illinois. Quinlan is a member of the Michigan, Florida, Middle District of Florida and Southern Florida Bar Associations, as well as the INTA.
