+1.970.776.4355 · Loveland, CO · Russ Krajec, principal Currently accepting Fractional Chief IP Officer engagements →

  • Terminal Disclaimers – One for the Price of Two

    Terminal disclaimers are where you pay twice to get the same thing. They are a money maker for the USPTO – and your patent attorney.  They should be avoided at all costs.  In most cases, a terminal disclaimer is a lazy way for a patent attorney to get more money out of their unsuspecting clients.

  • Is Your Patent Examiner Awful? One of the Patent Myths

    One of the myths that is perpetuated by the patent bar is that the examiners somehow do not understand your invention.

  • Valuable patents solve contradictions

    Inventions are not obvious – they have to solve some kind of contradiction. 

  • Startup Funding: Apply for BlueIron Non-Dilutive Funding

    BlueIron provides $60K or more non-dilutive startup funding for companies with great inventions. Our model is to invest in the full cost of getting patents for a company, including international (PCT) filing and expediting the patent through the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

  • My first invention

    My first job out of college was at McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis.  At the time, we made military fighter jets: the F-15, F-18, and Harrier AV-8B.  I was assigned to a little research group exploring different ways to use thermoplastic composites.  It was there that I had my first “invention.”  I wrote up a…

  • Why Marketing Is More Important than Patents

    Entrepreneurs have been fed this lie that the first thing they need to do is get a patent, then work on the business.

  • Venture Capital Investments in Patent-Heavy Companies is Down Substantially

    The Alliance of US Startups and Inventors for Jobs (USIJ) issued a report in July 2020 showing how Venture Capital has shied away from patent-intensive startups over most of the last two decades. This corresponds with the undermining of the US patent system through several Supreme Court cases during the period.

  • USPTO Abandonment Rate Nearly Tripling Since COVID

    An updated analysis by BlueIron shows that the COVID crisis has markedly affected business’s IP strategy. A previous analysis done in March is here.

  • Why Your Patent Attorney Does Not Want Your Patent To Be Granted

    There is a perverse incentive for your patent attorney to *not* get your patent allowed. It is called “money.”

  • Inventing and “Feeling It”

    When I was an engineer at HP, I wrote up 3-4 invention disclosures before a meeting, where we were going to discuss a new product.  At the meeting, I pitched a couple of the ideas *I had already submitted* for patenting.  There was a lot of excitement in the room, with people throwing ideas around…