Samsung Electronics Transfers 51 Patents to SMEs... Ministry of SMEs and Startups' 'Win-Win Ball of the Month' in October

Monthly Win-Win Cooperation Excellence Awards
October Winners Include SKC, POSCO, Kookmin Bank
"Contributing to Increased On-Site Shared Growth Awareness"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Samsung Electronics was recognized as an excellent case of government win-win cooperation by transferring 51 patents it owns free of charge to promising small and venture companies. Another excellent case selected was the 50 billion KRW ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) win-win cooperation fund established by POSCO.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups selected the win-win cooperation activities of five companies in October, including Samsung Electronics, SKC, POSCO, Korea National Railway, and KB Kookmin Bank, as the "Win-Win Ball of the Month." The Win-Win Ball of the Month is an event that rewards outstanding cases of win-win cooperation activities every month to encourage corporate win-win cooperation activities and spread a culture of mutual growth, which has been implemented since August.

Samsung Electronics supported companies to enter new fields based on patents by transferring unused patents free of charge to small and venture companies. Starting with the transfer of 114 technologies last year, Samsung transferred 51 patents it owns free of charge to a total of 32 promising small and venture companies in the first half of this year.

Through this, companies were able to develop new products based on patents that are easy for them to utilize and enter new fields.

SKC has been utilizing the "New Material Technology-Based Open Platform" established in 2017 to provide participating companies with research and development (R&D) analysis and office space, and holds networking days every month to discuss market information, technology value analysis, and financing methods with specialized institutions.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

POSCO established a 150 billion KRW steel ESG win-win cooperation fund to help steel small businesses introduce ESG management. Currently, 41 companies have received loans up to a limit of 2 billion KRW per company at preferential interest rates reduced compared to market rates through the steel ESG win-win cooperation fund.

Korea National Railway shared the status, plans, and accident cases of railway improvement projects with partner companies to prevent facility accidents in advance and improve the quality of railway improvement projects by enhancing the understanding of members involved in the projects.

KB Kookmin Bank conducted the "High Five KB Good Job Employment School" to support employment competency enhancement for 112 third-year students of specialized high schools. Now in its seventh year, the High Five KB Good Job Employment School has graduated 1,430 students over 13 sessions, with 498 of them employed.

The Win-Win Ball of the Month will be significantly revamped from next month, with expanded participation companies and strengthened selection criteria. First, the participation target will be expanded to include not only voluntarily cooperating companies but also 174 companies and institutions that have signed agreements with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups as new leading companies for mutual growth and have received a rating of "excellent" or higher in the mutual growth evaluation over the past two years.

A new disqualification criterion will be added to the selection criteria, excluding companies that have received administrative sanctions from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Fair Trade Commission, or the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy within the last three months for acts against mutual growth, or companies whose executives or corporations have been sentenced to probation or higher.

Minister Lee Young of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated, "We will contribute to expanding the sense of mutual growth in the field of small and medium enterprises and small business owners by newly including excellent mutual growth companies in the participation target of the Win-Win Ball of the Month and strengthening the requirements for discovering and selecting excellent cases."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.