All in the mind

SINCE 2001, the US Patent Office has received 100 applications related to operational risk – with 34 filed in 2006 alone. Cast the net wider to include other risk types, and the results are the same: patent applicants are increasingly trying to fence off their own small (or large) plot of risk management intellectual property (IP).

Some of the applications are highly specific or are intended for use outside the financial services sector, but observers say that many appear to be seeking ownership