Thaina Marques is senior counsel overseeing brand protection activities for MF Brands Group — including Lacoste, Aigle, Gant and Tecnifibre — across North, Central and South America. She leads the brand enforcement of global policies addressing counterfeiting, parallel markets and illicit trade throughout the Americas region. Marques is a guest lecturer for postgraduate programmes in fashion law at Faculdade Santa Marcelina and IBMEC, where she teaches modules on intellectual property. She is the author of published works on fashion law and economic criminal law. Marques currently serves as vice president of the Chamber Against Piracy and Smuggling of Uruguay and as executive secretary of the Brand Protection Group Brazil. She holds a law degree, a postgraduate degree in criminal economics and European law from the University of Coimbra, and a specialisation in fashion law from Faculdade Santa Marcelina.