A report on innovation in the insurance sector has revealed an increase in patent filings.
London law firm RPC conducted research covering patent trends within the insurance sector.
There were 435 international insurance-related patents filed during 2012 alone, according to the report.
Since 2003, there have been more than 5000 international insurance-related patents filed, it added.
The most frequent filers include insurers such as the Hartford Fire Insurance Company (part of the Fortune 500 Hartford Group), and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, according to RPC.
“These figures show that the insurance sector is a hot bed of innovation right now, with insurers and brokers searching for new ways to differentiate their products and offer value-added services,” said Paul Joseph, partner at RPC.
“It’s often forgotten just how much research and product development takes place within financial services and in a competitive marketplace protecting the intellectual property that is created is more important than ever."
The research also stated that insurers are not just looking for new types of insurance products but ways to make claims handling more efficient, improve the identification of fraud and sharpen risk analyses and liability predictions in order to make their business models as streamlined and effective as possible.
In 2012, there were 12 patent filings related to telematics, showing that filings can highlight developing trends within the insurance market.
