Obafemi Agaba

Obafemi is a consummate commercial lawyer who started in general/commercial litigation and quickly became renowned for his mastery of the specialist area of Brand Protection.

His expertise encompasses Intellectual Property (IP) Rights litigation, anti-counterfeiting, commercial IP transactions, and IP policy, amongst others. Related to this expertise is his growing reputation in the field of Technology Litigation (TechLit), where he has, in the last four years, been representing some leading global entities in the new/social media space as well as the FinTech sector in litigation, advisory, regulatory and policy.

He is included on the Panel of Neutrals of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), where he has been appointed as a Mediator in copyright software/technology mediation, amongst others. He is also on the Panel of Neutrals of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, where he has sat on a copyright dispute resolution as a co-mediator.

As a proficient commercial dispute resolution practitioner, Obafemi represents many local, international, and multinational clients in diverse areas, such as Oil & Gas, Labour and Employment Disputes, Construction, Torts, Boardroom and Corporate Restructure Litigation, Regulatory Compliance, and Crisis Management. Litigation Portfolio Management is one special skill set he has. He has mastered the management of several court cases across different parts of Nigeria, cutting across a variety of subject matters for several clients. The clients benefit from economies of scale, institutional knowledge of their businesses and related disputes, multi-city locations, local knowledge of various court nuances, and the project management skills he brings to bear in such portfolios.

In addition to being Head of the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice, he is presently the Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Firm and was also the former Head of, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Sector, where he employs his significant industry expertise in designing tailor-made technical and business solutions which speak directly to the unique challenges faced by clients in the sector.

As a champion for everything IP, Obafemi is currently the President of the Intellectual Property Law Association of Nigeria (IPLAN). He is also the Sub-Committee Chair (2022/2023) Legislation and Regulation Sub-Committee for Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) of the International Trademarks Association (INTA).

Obafemi has attended and facilitated several local and international conferences and workshops on various aspects of IP law, including those organized by Henley Business School, Columba University, International Trademarks Association (INTA), Anti-Counterfeiting Collaboration, International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, Nigerian Copyright Commission, Nigerian Customs Service, and several others. He has long been an advocate for IP rights protection and was responsible for drafting the legal framework for the actualization of the recommendations of the Lagos State Governor’s Committee for the reforms of the entertainment industry in Lagos State, Nigeria, in 2010. He was also a member of the Technical Working Group that worked on the recently passed Copyright Act in Nigeria, a subject for which he has authored several publications. He has also taken up several pro bono cases in the criminal justice arena as a contribution to humanity and the decongestion of our Correctional Facilities.

As a testament to Obafemi’s knowledge and expertise, he has been consistently ranked as a leading lawyer in Chambers & Partners Global Law Review and given a high ranking in ManagingIP, IP Stars, World Trademark Review, WhoisWho Legal and other reputable rating organizations.

Obafemi, a Notary Public, is a 1998 graduate of Law from the Lagos State University, where he was President of the Law Students Society and emerged with a Second Class (Upper Division). He then went on to the Nigerian Law School and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2000. He holds an LLM.IP Master’s degree from the University College, London and a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Copyright law from King’s College London. Obafemi is also an alumnus of various professional and management courses of the Harvard Law School Executive Programs and the Said Business School of Oxford University. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration (UK).