Having recently earned its spurs proving the Streisand Effect for its banning of the use of the terms Twitter and Facebook on national television, the French government is now looking to take on the role of National Patent Troll. Last week, government ministers Valérie Pécresse, Eric Besson and commissioner general for investment Rene Nicol launched France Brevets (‘Patents France’), a €100m project that will see the state buying up locally generated patents before turning broker and sub-licensing them on a global basis.