Damian Porcari

Damian Porcari

I’m an independent intellectual property advisor with over 40 years of experience helping companies and inventors turn ideas into protected, commercially valuable assets.

At Ford Global Technologies, I invented and created the intellectual asset management platform that became Anaqua. The project began as a collaboration between Ford and British American Tobacco to solve a problem no commercial system then addressed: managing inventions, patents, trademarks, agreements, conflicts, and licensing in one integrated global system. The system evolved into a standalone company now used by many of the world’s largest patent and trademark owners. Microsoft was among Anaqua’s early enterprise customers, and the platform has since become one of the leading global IP management systems.

I also served as Ford’s Director of Licensing and Enforcement, leading major intellectual property enforcement efforts against the automotive aftermarket parts industry, including litigation involving companies such as Keystone and LKQ. Those efforts helped establish and reinforce the legal principle that automotive replacement body parts can qualify for design patent protection and that unauthorized aftermarket copies may infringe those rights. Federal Circuit decisions involving Ford’s enforcement program became landmark cases in modern automotive design patent law and continue to shape the industry today. The impact of those cases has been significant enough that aftermarket and insurance industry groups have continued for decades to support legislative efforts, including versions of the proposed PARTS Act, seeking to limit or narrow design patent protection for automotive collision repair parts.

I later served as Regional Director of the Midwest Regional Office of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In that role, I worked directly with corporations, law firms, universities, inventors, and entrepreneurial organizations throughout the nine Midwestern states served by the office. I also oversaw operations of the USPTO’s Detroit office, including regional Patent Trial and Appeal Board activities and patent examination operations. The role provided a unique opportunity to engage with innovators at every level, from Fortune 500 companies to first-time inventors and startup founders.

My broader background spans IP strategy, design and software patents, licensing programs, global portfolio management, enforcement, and IP management software. I have worked inside Fortune 500 boardrooms, advised technology startups, and collaborated with inventors developing genuinely new technologies.

I hold a law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and am based in Hallandale Beach.

Outside of IP, I’m passionate about cycling and mobility technology, and I have a particular interest in cycling-related inventions and transportation innovation.