Commercialising public research ; no trends and strategies

Public research is the source of many of today's technologies from the GPS and MRI to MP3 technology. Public research institutions (PRIs) and universities are also an engine of entrepreneurial ventures from biotech start-ups to Internet giants like Google. Today, globalisation, open innovation and new forms of venture financing such as crowd funding are changing the way institutions promote the transfer and commercialisation of public researcher results.This report describes recent trends in government and university level policies to enhance the transfer and explotitation of public research and benchmarks the patenting and licensing activites of PRIs and universities in a number of OECD countries and regions, including the EU, Australia, Canada, and the US.