Center for Law and Innovation Director :
Rita S. Heimes, Esq.
Rita Heimes joined the Technology Law Center in January 2001 as its first full
time director and as acting director of the Maine Patent Program. The Center is
a research, education and public service program within the University of Maine
School of Law devoted to issues in law, science and technology. As the Center's
director, Rita conducts research and speaks frequently on the role of law in
innovation and economic development; organizes and delivers seminars, lectures
and conferences in high technology law; and develops clinical positions for
students in intellectual property. She also administers the Maine Patent
Program, a public service program providing patent and trademark advice to
inventors, entrepreneurs and small businesses in Maine.
During the 2003-2004 academic year, Rita served as a Visiting Assistant
Professor of Law in the Global Technology Law LLM program at Suffolk University
Law School where she taught courses in international intellectual property,
global technology transfer and Internet law. She is an Adjunct Professor of Law
at the University of Maine School of Law, where she teaches courses on
Internet, e-commerce and intellectual property law.
A native Iowan, Rita received her BA in Journalism with honors and highest
distinction from the University of Iowa, and a JD with honors from Drake
University Law School. Following law school, she clerked with the Honorable
Robert Beezer of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and practiced
intellectual property law with firms in Seattle, Boulder and Portland, Maine.
Rita's current research interests involve the role of scientific research
institutions in economic development.
Maine
Patent Program Director:
Leonard Agneta, Esq.
Leonard Agneta heads the state wide operations of the Maine Patent Program. As
an integral part of the Center for Law and Innovation, the Maine Patent program
combines experienced professionals with university students to support the
innovations of small businesses, independent inventors, and entrepreneurs of
Maine.
Mr. Agneta has an extensive background conducting the commercialization of new
technology through contract management, intellectual property protection,
technology licensing, and service to entrepreneurs. He is an outspoken critic
of patent reform legislation and an advocate of high technology economic
development. He especially enjoys mentoring students as they learn the skills
of intellectual property development and technology transfer.
Before relocating to Maine, Mr. Agneta was associate general counsel and
director of intellectual property at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology and a Juris
Doctorate from the University of New Mexico. He is a registered patent attorney
and a member of the National Association of University Attorneys, the American
Intellectual Property Law Association, and the Association of University
Technology Managers.
Maine Patent Program Senior Patent Counsel:
Willis “Woody” Higgins , Esq.
Mr. Higgins brings to the program over 35 years of experience as an intellectual
property attorney, including experience with patent, trademark and copyright
prosecution and technology licensing. Most recently he was a partner in the
Palo Alto, California office of Cooley Godward, where he headed the firm's
electronics and software patent prosecution practice. Prior to entering private
practice, Mr. Higgins held positions as Patent Counsel of National
Semiconductor Corporation and as a patent attorney with Motorola, Inc., IBM
Corporation and Dow Chemical Corporation.
Mr. Higgins received his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School
and his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh . He
serves Maine Patent Program clients from offices in Portland and Orono.
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