Just as a producer needs an agent to sell his artistic production, so it could well be that this type of intermediary is needed by a company seeking to exploit its IP. In recessionary times, an argument that profits can be turbo-charged by better commercialising the research into which companies have already poured millions may be very attractive. In any case, iFG is convinced that this is the case and has just invested $30m in its subsidiary ipValue. Today, ipValue comprises a small team from IBM, Honeywell, Lucent and others and takes responsibility for mining and maximising licensing revenues in exchange for a percentage of the revenues generated.