Light in the empirical shadow: base-lining the impact of academic patenting legislation in Norway

Abstract

As the commercialization of academic research has risen as a target area in many countries, the need for better empirical data collection to evaluate policy changes on this front has increasingly been recognized. When new legislation went into effect in Norway on 1 January 2003 with the objective of changing the way researchers in the large university and college sector approach the potential for commercializing their research output, little preparation was made for monitoring the success of the controversial policy change. This paper presents results from a project designed to provide necessary empirical basis on which to analyze changes in extent and focus of academic patents while enabling future comparisons. The purpose is to describe the project's empirical approach and results, while also providing insight into the changes in Norwegian policy on this front and their context.