Reinhard Ottway, former CEO of RWS Group, joins Novagraaf’s Supervisory Board

IP specialist Novagraaf is pleased to announce the appointment of Reinhard Ottway to its Supervisory Board. Reinhard joins Ruud Peters, formerly Chief Intellectual Property Officer of Royal Philips, and Dr Krischan von Moeller, Partner and Co-founder of Paragon Partners, which acquired a majority share in Novagraaf in January 2017. Mr Masaji Yamane of Mitsui & Co Ltd has also been appointed as an Observer to the Supervisory Board.

Reinhard was previously CEO of IP translation and search specialist RWS Group, where he was responsible for overseeing the Group’s continued expansion prior to his retirement in 2017.

Reinhard first joined RWS in 1993 as a business development manager for the German market, before expanding his role to cover the wider European market and Japan following his relocation to the UK. He had previously worked at Meissner, Bolte & Partner patent agents in Bremen, Germany, as a translator, searcher and legal researcher.

In 2001, Reinhard was appointed to the RWS Group Board and became responsible for Business Development worldwide. This included establishing sales operations in the US and a subsidiary in China, managing the integration of foreign subsidiaries and offices, and over-seeing a number of acquisitions, notably that of foreign-filing specialist Inovia. He became CEO in 2012, holding the position until his retirement in 2017.

Commenting on his appointment to Novagraaf’s Supervisory Board, Reinhard said: “Novagraaf is a highly innovative IP firm operating in an exciting industry which has seen enormous change over recent years. Its goals and vision for future expansion are very impressive and I look forward to contributing to its success.”

“Novagraaf has a bold vision for a new type of IP services provider, which unites the quality and experience of a traditional IP firm with the speed and efficiency of an IP service provider,” commented Novagraaf’s CEO Lutgarde Liezenberg. “We’re pleased and excited that Reinhard has joined us at this critical time of growth and change, and value his input and expertise in our work to deliver world-class support to clients through investment in our people, services and technology.”

Founded in 1888, Novagraaf is the world’s largest trademark filer and a major patent filer, managing more than one million intellectual property (IP) assets on behalf of customers, and representing many of the world’s major patent and trademark owners. The company is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, with offices throughout Europe, including London, Brussels, Paris and Geneva, and sales operations in China, Japan and the US.

Reinhard is also a member of the Supervisory Board at PAVIS GmbH

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