Tolu Olaloye is a leading figure in Africa’s Intellectual Property (IP), Technology and Media Law space. She is a Partner at Jackson, Etti and Edu, a top-tier African law firm, where she serves as the Business Head of the Asia/Middle East & Africa Unit in the IP Department which she generally oversees. Tolu manages the IP portfolios of blue-chip corporations across 40 countries, including Africa, ASEAN and Middle East and routinely designs sustainable IP commercialisation strategies through licensing, assignments and franchises in these jurisdcitions. She advises local and foreign clients on the data protection law and policy regime in Nigeria, and undertakes comprehensive audits of their organisational systems as well as training for staff members on data protection principles.
Tolu’s acumen in Africa’s media and entertainment sector extends to the industry’s regulatory compliance, merger and acquisitions and corporate law practice, where she provides market insights that transform services into business solutions. She is a market leader with a sterling expertise in Domain Name matters such as registration, disputes, transfer, and liquidation.
She obtained her first degree at Nigeria’s premier University, the University of Ibadan, and completed her advanced master law degree from the prestigious University of Lagos. She holds a further Certification in Intellectual Property, International Taxation and Business Communication from Oxford University and is licensed as an Associate Tax Practitioner in Nigeria.
Tolu’s leadership is mostly underlined by her ability to blend professional nous and passion to impact lives. Today, she is the Head of Advocacy Committee and an active contributor to the vision of empowering, inspiring and guiding female lawyers to success under the platform of the NBA Women Forum. She has executed several IP CSR programmes on behalf of Jackson, Etti & Edu in various IP Clubs across Nigerian universities and is recognized as one of the pioneers of the firm’s Technology Start-Up Initiative where the IP Practice supports Nigeria’s budding innovative entrepreneurs through bespoke legal and business service packages. She also liaises with different IP organizations, such as IPLAN, WIPO Nigeria, AFRIPI and INTA on programmes for IP awareness in Nigeria geared towards achieving sustainable development.
Tolu is highly versatile and often referred to by clients and colleagues as “the solution provider”. Today, she is a member of the Technical Working Group for the establishment of the first Geographical Indication law in Nigeria and recently appeared as a Panelist on the National Conference on Creating a Legal Framework in Nigeria. In 2020, she was recognized as Top 25 Emerging IP Players award globally and claimed the 40-Under-40 ESQ Legal Awards in the Rising Stars category in 2021. Tolu has also been recognized as an IP Rising Star 2022 and 2023 by Managing IP and an IP Leaders by the World Intellectual Property Review in 2022 and 2023 respectively, and in 2024 ranked Silver in the World Trademark Review (WTR) 1000 (2024).