Samsung to offer patent use to SMEs

By Kim Yoo-chul

Samsung Group said Wednesday it plans to let local small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) use its in-house patents at affordable prices as part of efforts for “shared growth.”

``As a good corporate citizen, Samsung plans to create a new eco-system for balanced growth with local SMEs by offering them full access to use Samsung-owned patents without a big burden in royalties,’’ chief Samsung communications officer Rhee In-yong told reporters after Wednesday’s regular weekly meeting of company executives.

``Samsung aims to give substantial help to local SMEs by offering qualified training in technologies and letting them use some of our patents virtually for free,’’ Rhee said, adding presidents of the group’s affiliates will review the plans before implementation.

The conglomerate is the first to announce a patent-sharing initiative for SMEs. ``Technology and ideas are the crucial things in a creative economy eco-system,’’ said another Samsung official.

The announcement comes after President Park Geun-hye said her administration would build a new ``creative economy’’ that would move beyond the country’s traditional manufacturing base.

Earlier, Park promised to build a level playing field and a fair market where SMEs could flourish, by rooting out unfair practices and rectifying misguided chaebol habits of the past.