Your innovation is either driving growth, or sitting idle.

We turn intellectual capital into measurable business outcomes, converting patents, proprietary technologies, and R&D investments into revenue, competitive moats, and enterprise value.

Every company owns intellectual property worth millions that nobody inside the building has ever priced. Forge & Fortress finds it, prices it, and puts it to work.

Book a Demo
The firm brings two decades of Fortune 500 internal IP and Innovation management and operating expertise. Its lead practitioner brings thirty years inside the work.

Most organizations leave

MILLIONS

on the table.

2.9%

That's how much companies license of the total patents they hold

16.3%

That's the number of patents licensed in universities against their total patent porfolio

R&D investments fail to commercialize. Patent portfolios collect dust. Proprietary advantages go unquantified.

That is US graphene, one sector. The university rate, licensed at least once, is more than five times the corporate rate. Ask whether your portfolio behaves differently.

Source: Nguyen, A. L., Liu, W., Khor, K. A., Nanetti, A., & Cheong, S. A. (2022). "Strategic differences between regional investments into graphene technology and how corporations and universities manage patent portfolios." arXiv:2208.03719. A study of 20,843 US-filed graphene patents. One technology sector, not an all-industry census.

Nobody in these businesses is asking what their IP is worth.

Why now

In the age of AI, inventions are accelerating.
Filings are not. And USPTO rules are changing.

R&D investment and patent filings, 2015 to 2022 Growth since 2015: R&D investment rises to 67%, while patent filings end at 1%. Intermediate points visually reconstructed from the supplied pitch-deck chart. 0204060 20152016201720182019202020212022 +67% +1%
R&D investment +67%Patent filings +1%
Growth since 2015. R&D: US business R&D performance, constant 2017 dollars, NSF NCSES. Filings: US utility patent applications, USPTO (2015–2020) and WIPO (2021–2022). R&D investment is shown as a measure of inventive activity. Intermediate points visually reconstructed from the supplied chart.
Illinois Intellectual Property Alliance (ILIPA)

October 29 · Chicago

Illinois IP Month Celebration

The state's official celebration of intellectual property, hosted by the Illinois Intellectual Property Alliance (ILIPA) at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, three expert panels, dinner, and networking.

–Days
–Hours
–Minutes
–Seconds

until the doors open

Register free

Registration, dinner & drinks included.

Two practices. One asset class.

Most companies own patents and have no IP department. Some have an innovation team that needs a number. Either way, the work runs through two integrated practices:

Practice 01

IP Capital Strategy

For leaders who own intellectual assets but have no IP team to price them, and for the innovation, R&D, and IP leaders who need to know what those assets are actually worth.

FIG. 4 · FF ENTERPRISE · PATENT LANDSCAPE · PRODUCT PREVIEW

What we deliver

  • Portfolio valuation: AI-powered patent analytics that quantify asset value for financing, licensing, and strategic decisions
  • Whitespace discovery: Predictive modeling that identifies unprotected innovation opportunities and patent gaps in competitive landscapes
  • Risk mitigation: Freedom-to-operate analysis and competitive threat monitoring that protects margins and market position
  • Monetization strategy: Licensing programs, enforcement strategies, and divestiture planning that generate returns from patent assets
  • Transaction support: Pre-deal IP due diligence, valuation optimization for M&A, and post-merger integration planning
  • Provisional patent filing & business strategy: End-to-end support from invention disclosure through provisional filing, aligned with go-to-market timing and competitive positioning

Best for: Innovation strategy, R&D portfolio optimization, IP monetization, M&A due diligence, transaction readiness.

FIG. 1 · IP CAPITAL STRATEGY

Practice 02

Agentic Intelligence Services

For leadership teams who need continuous visibility into their IP landscape without waiting for periodic consultant reports.

FIG. 3 · INTELLIGO · IP CAPTURE & SCORING · WORKING PRODUCT

What we deliver

  • Patent landscape surveillance: Continuous tracking of competitive filings, new grants, and portfolio shifts across your technology domains
  • Threat & opportunity alerts: Automated early warning on emerging competitive risks and whitespace opportunities as they develop
  • Regulatory & compliance monitoring: Real-time tracking of policy changes, standards evolution, and jurisdiction-specific requirements
  • Executive intelligence briefs: Synthesized insights delivered on-demand, elevating raw data into board-ready strategic intelligence
  • Custom monitoring protocols: Tailored surveillance frameworks aligned to your specific competitive environment and strategic priorities
  • Proof-of-value pilots: A scoped pilot, configured to your strategic priorities, that shows what continuous IP visibility looks like on your own portfolio. Scope and timeline are set together at the start.

Best for: Ongoing portfolio monitoring, competitive surveillance, regulatory tracking, board-ready intelligence.

FIG. 2 · AGENTIC INTELLIGENCE SERVICES

About Forge & Fortress

Forge & Fortress is an intellectual property firm built for companies without IP departments of their own. We combine senior advisory with AI-enabled software, so leadership can see what its intellectual capital is worth, protect what matters, and convert patents into revenue through licensing, financing, and M&A.

The platform values portfolios in cash and asset terms, maps the whitespace where competitors have not yet filed, and builds freedom-to-operate, licensing, and divestiture strategies. Every service points the same direction: a stronger IP position as the company grows.

Our founder, Erwin Cruz, spent three decades at W.W. Grainger leading corporate strategy, innovation, and IP. He is an inventor on U.S. patents in AI and computer vision, and he chairs the Illinois Intellectual Property Alliance. As a globally recognized IAM Strategy 300 IP Strategist and a National Invention Ambassador, his framework ensures that invention translates directly into market dominance.

  • Illinois Intellectual Property Alliance
  • United States Intellectual Property Alliance
  • National Academy of Inventors

Our Approach

Score and Incept. Plan. Monetize.

The firm brings two decades of Fortune 500 internal IP and Innovation management and operating expertise. Its lead practitioner brings thirty years inside the work. Both go into the method.

  1. 01

    Score and Incept

    Make the intangible tangible and our Agentic IP product helps Inventors invent. We work out what IP matters and what each one is worth.

  2. 02

    Plan

    Build the business case. For every asset that matters: we help license it, sell it, package it, or prune it.

  3. 03

    Monetize

    We facilitate the licensing and the sale, alongside counsel and brokers.

We meet you where you are, whether that's a board presentation next month or a multi-year commercialization effort.

Discover how we can drive your next phase of growth.

Book a Demo

Stay in touch

Or connect with us on LinkedIn

LinkedIn · Forge & Fortress

Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective date and last updated: October 22, 2026

1. Introduction and Scope

This Privacy Policy explains how Forge & Fortress ("Forge & Fortress," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and shares information when you visit forgeandfortress.com (the "Site") or book a demo through the linked HubSpot scheduling page (the "Booking Page").

The Site is a single-page marketing website. It has no online store, no payments, and no user accounts.

This policy covers the Site and the Booking Page only. It does not cover how we handle data in connection with our products (for example, Intelligo), which is outside the scope of this policy. It also does not cover third-party websites that the Site links to (see Section 8).

By using the Site, you acknowledge that you have read this policy. If you do not agree with it, please do not use the Site or submit information through it.

2. Information You Provide

We collect only the information you choose to submit through the following:

  • "Contact Us" form. When you use this form, we collect your first name, last name, email address, company name, and the message you write in the form's message field.
  • "Email Signup" form. When you sign up to receive periodic messages from us, we collect your first name, last name, email address, and company name.
  • Booking Page (HubSpot Meetings). When you book a demo, we collect your name, email address, company name, and one optional free-text answer. Please do not include sensitive personal information in that free-text answer.

When you submit either form, the Site shows an inline thank-you message. It does not redirect you to another page. Form submissions are stored in our HubSpot customer relationship management (CRM) system.

3. Information Collected Automatically

When you visit the Site, a HubSpot tracking script loaded on the page uses cookies and similar technologies to collect analytics information about your visit. This includes:

  • a visitor identifier, so that repeat visits from the same browser can be recognized;
  • session information, so that activity within a single visit can be grouped together; and
  • traffic-source information, such as how you arrived at the Site.

Automatically collected information may also include standard technical details, such as your IP address, browser type, device type, and the pages you view. Our hosting provider and HubSpot receive such details as a normal part of delivering the Site and its analytics. More detail on cookies is in Section 5.

4. How We Use Information

We use the information described above to:

  • respond to your inquiries submitted through the Contact Us form;
  • schedule, conduct, and follow up on demos you request through the Booking Page;
  • send you periodic messages if you signed up through the Email Signup form;
  • maintain our contact records in our CRM;
  • understand how visitors find and use the Site, and improve its content and performance;
  • operate, secure, and maintain the Site; and
  • comply with legal obligations and protect our rights.

We do not use information collected through the Site for advertising, and we do not build advertising profiles of visitors.

5. Cookies

What cookies are

Cookies are small text files that a website places on your browser or device. They let a site recognize your browser, remember information between pages and visits, and measure how the site is used.

Cookies we use

The only cookies set through the Site come from HubSpot, the provider of our tracking script, forms, and scheduling page. They fall into the following categories:

CategorySet byPurposeNames and lifespan
Visitor identification (analytics)HubSpotRecognizes a returning browser so that visits can be counted accurately and form submissions can be associated with prior site activity.hubspotutk (expires in six months) and __hstc (expires in six months)
Session tracking (analytics)HubSpotGroups page views and activity within a single visit.__hssc (expires in 30 minutes) and __hssrc (expires at the end of the session)
Traffic-source tracking (analytics)HubSpotRecords how a visitor arrived at the Site (for example, from a link or a search), so we can understand which channels bring visitors.__hstc (expires in six months)
Functional and form-relatedHubSpotMay be set when you use the embedded Contact Us and Email Signup forms or the Booking Page, to help those features work as intended.hubspotutk, passed to HubSpot when a form is submitted (expires in six months)

This Site shows a cookie banner when you first visit. HubSpot tracking cookies are not set until you accept. You can change your choice at any time through the Cookie Settings link in the footer, and you can also block or delete cookies in your browser as described below.

No advertising cookies

The Site does not use advertising cookies or cross-site advertising or tracking cookies. We do not use cookies to serve targeted ads.

Third-party sites

If you follow a link from the Site to Eventbrite, LinkedIn, or Google Search, those sites may set their own cookies under their own policies. We do not control them.

How to block or delete cookies

Most browsers let you view, block, or delete cookies through their settings. The steps differ by browser, so please consult your browser's help pages. You can usually choose to block all cookies, block only third-party cookies, or clear cookies when you close the browser.

If you block or delete cookies, some features of the Site may not work properly. For example, forms or the Booking Page may not behave as expected, and our analytics may be incomplete or inaccurate. Cookies you delete may be set again the next time you visit, unless your browser is set to block them.

6. How We Share Information

We share information only in the following circumstances.

  • Service providers. We use two service providers to operate the Site:
    • HubSpot, which provides our CRM, forms, scheduling page, and website analytics, and which therefore processes form and booking submissions and analytics data; and
    • Lovable, which hosts the Site.

    These providers process information on our behalf and under their own terms and privacy commitments. We have no other processors for the Site.

  • Legal requirements. We may disclose information where required by law, regulation, legal process, or a valid request from a public authority, or where we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, safety, or property or that of others.

We do not sell your personal data.

7. Data Retention and Location

We keep personal information only for as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law. For example, we keep contact and booking records while they remain relevant to our business relationship or communications with you, and we keep email signup details until you opt out or ask us to delete them. After that, we delete the information or de-identify it, unless the law requires us to keep it longer.

8. Links to Other Websites

The Site contains outbound links to Eventbrite (for event registration), LinkedIn, and Google Search. These sites are operated by third parties and have their own privacy policies and practices. We are not responsible for them, and we encourage you to read their policies before providing any information to them.

The Booking Page is hosted on HubSpot's domain. We include it in this policy because it is part of our demo booking process. HubSpot's own terms and privacy commitments also apply to its role as our service provider.

9. Security

We use reasonable administrative and technical measures to protect the information we collect, including relying on established service providers for hosting and CRM. However, no website, transmission over the internet, or electronic storage system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Your Rights and Choices

You may ask us to:

  • tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you access to it;
  • correct personal information that is inaccurate or incomplete; or
  • delete the personal information we hold about you.

To make a request, contact us using the details in Section 14. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request, and we may decline or limit a request where the law allows or requires it. We will respond within a reasonable time.

Email opt-out. You can stop receiving our periodic messages at any time by using the unsubscribe link in any message we send, or by asking us to remove you using the contact details in Section 14. Opting out of periodic messages does not prevent us from sending messages that are necessary to respond to a specific request from you, such as confirming a demo booking.

Cookies. You can control cookies through your browser settings, as described in Section 5.

11. Children's Privacy

The Site is not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If you believe a child under 16 has provided us with personal information, please contact us using the details in Section 14, and we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time, for example if our practices or the Site change. When we do, we will post the updated policy on the Site and revise the "last updated" date at the top. Please review this policy periodically. Your continued use of the Site after an update means you accept the revised policy.

13. Summary of Our Practices

  • We collect only what you submit through our forms and Booking Page, plus HubSpot analytics data collected through cookies.
  • We use HubSpot and Lovable as our only service providers.
  • We have no payments, user accounts, or advertising cookies on the Site.
  • We do not sell personal data.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions about this policy or want to make a request under Section 10, please contact Forge & Fortress through the "Contact Us" form on forgeandfortress.com.