Lara Kayode

Lagos-based IP practitioner Lara Kayode specialises in trademarks, brand protection, anti-counterfeiting, advertising law, corporate affairs, and alternative dispute resolution.

Over more than three decades in practice, Kayode has become one of Nigeria’s foremost trademark specialists, advising multinational corporations, pharmaceutical companies, FMCGs, automobile manufacturers, and emerging African brands on brand strategy, protection, enforcement, and IP portfolio management.

Kayode is also a CEDR-accredited mediator and a prominent figure in the international IP community.

She is a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA), the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI) (where she serves as vice president of the Nigerian National Group), the Chartered Institute of Trademark Attorneys (CITMA), and the Nigerian Bar Association. She has served on the board of the INTA, where she has held multiple leadership roles, including board member, chair of the Global Advisory Council for Africa & Asia, chair of the Unreal Campaign Subcommittee (MEASA), and currently vice chair of the Building Bridges Committee.

Kayode’s professional recognition includes the INTA President’s Award in 2019, when she became the first African woman of colour to receive this honour.

Other memberships include the Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group (PTMG), the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) (where she chairs the Creatives & Culture Committee), the Institute of Directors (IOD), and the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse as a mediator and ADR expert.

Kayode is a global speaker and mentor, contributing regularly to IP discourse through international conferences and publications including World IP Review with written work focusing on trademark enforcement, IP management in Nigeria, and brand protection regime.

She is also an independent non-executive director and honorary board member at Lycée Français Louis Pasteur. She is renowned for advancing African representation in global IP leadership and for mentoring the next generation of practitioners.