University-industry cooperation (UIC) is increasingly seen as an essential innovation strategy and technology transfer offices (TTOs) play an important role in this process but are still neglected by industries and researchers. Public policies have been developed worldwide since the Bay-dole act in 1980, but emerging countries still face difficulties in promoting UIC compared to developed countries. This article aims to highlight and compare the main motivations and barriers for UIC in Brazilian and Irish TTOs. Based on a literature review, a questionnaire was applied to the heads of nine TTOs. This research is characterized as a multiple case study with a qualitative approach. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that the TTOs from Ireland and Brazil have different motivations for cooperation, but face similar barriers despite the completely different contexts they are in.