About BlueIron
Honest business advice about IP protection — and meaningful valuations and loans treating your IP as a valued business asset.
BlueIron addresses a huge need in the patent world: the need for honest business advice about IP protection, and for meaningful valuations — and loans — treating your IP as valued business assets.
Operating since 2015, we have made dozens of investments using IP as collateral for startup financing. Our primary business is IP-collateralized loans for operating companies — occasionally considering trademarks, trade secrets, and datasets alongside patents.
IP-Collateralized Lending
We treat patents as collateral — real collateral, like a building or a piece of equipment. Two things set us apart from conventional lenders: superior IP valuation and specialized IP management.
Our valuation leverages partners with deep IP litigation and monetization experience. We assess patent value realistically — based on the technology, the competition, litigation strength, and related factors. When the existing portfolio needs strengthening, we can supplement it through acquisition and development.
We also provide patent insurance covering both enforcement and defense, complementing our financing services.
IP Management Philosophy
We do not pursue quantity of patents. For every patent claim set, we analyze the targeted infringers or licensees, whether infringement can be detected, whether infringement can be proved, and whether the economic case justifies the investment.
We prefer data-driven patents over lots of shiny plaques.
Fractional Chief IP Officer
Your board sets business goals. Your patent attorney writes patents. Who connects the two?
A fractional CIPO provides the strategic framework — invention evaluation, prosecution direction, quality oversight, cost management, and patent deployment — so your board makes confident IP investment decisions with data, not guesswork.
| Funded & Pre-Revenue | Every dollar on IP competes with product and revenue. Make the patents you file count — with concrete enforceability analysis, prosecution playbooks, and cost discipline. | Learn more → |
| High-Growth | Your IP should be giving you options — IP-backed lending, blocking patents, competitive positioning, cross-licenses, and acquisition leverage. | Learn more → |
| Established | Your portfolio should be working — outbound licensing, standards and patent pools, FTO protection, technology space clearing, and portfolio optimization. | Learn more → |
Russ Krajec
Russ holds degrees in mechanical engineering (bachelor’s and master’s from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) and a JD from Denver University. He is listed on Intellectual Asset Magazine’s Top 300 Patent Strategists and is a Certified Patent Valuation Analyst.
After initial frustration with patent counsel, he earned the patent bar, worked at a law firm, opened a solo practice, then transitioned to in-house counsel focused on IP portfolio value creation — ultimately founding BlueIron to address the gap between patent filing and patent strategy.
Russ is the author of Investing In Patents and hosts the Patent Myths podcast addressing IP strategy for entrepreneurs.
Who We Work With
We work with companies — from startups through publicly traded — that are bringing products and services to market. We do not work with independent inventors or entities focused solely on patent licensing.
| Minimum revenue | $1M annual |
| Location | US-based |
| Patents | Issued, infringeable patents |
| Profitability | Clear path — not required today |
| VC funding | Not required |