This study explores why academic entrepreneurs seek patents for spin-off technology in weak organizational regimes (the employee owns her inventions) and strong organizational regimes (the employer owns these inventions). Specifically, we test organizational and founder characteristics as alternative explanations. Matched data of spin-offs from both contexts combined with patent data shows that founder characteristics (expert knowledge and entrepreneurial orientation) matter in weak, but not strong regimes. In contrast, organizational patenting norms are the key driver of patenting in strong, but not weak regimes. We discuss the implications of our results for the current literature and technology transfer policies.