Samsung Electronics announced that they would make a total of 276 patents available to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) free of charge. The initiative was made with the support of the South Korean government.
The move was expected to spark even more innovations within their SMEs segment and improve their industry’s competitiveness.
Samsung Electronics would put forth 276 patents and technology in seven technology fields for sharing, including networks, semiconductors, displays, audio/ video, medical devices and appliances.
SMEs that are interested in this programme would need to put up an application, have it reviewed by an evaluation committee and if approved, would receive the patent free of charge.
Samsung Electronic is part of the South Korean government technology transfer programme that has been going on since 2013. Since then, 25 large and public enterprises, including Samsung Electronics, have transferred more than 2,400 patents to over 1,000 companies.
Previous technology transfers have resulted in significant successes in areas such as digital payments, smart remote control and the world’s first Internet-of-Things Automatic Cardiac Shock Machine.
This is the first time that the conglomerate is providing the patents free of charge. Industry watchers noted that this is a game-changing move which might encourage even more large enterprises to follow suit, eventually becoming a critical step to increasing South Korea’s competitiveness in the global technology race and spurring new innovations in the sustainability arena.
Terra Link Research 