Rita S. Heimes
Clinical Professor and
Director, Center for Law and Innovation
B.A., University of Iowa
J.D., Drake University Law School
Rita Heimes joined the Center for Law & Innovation in January 2001 as its first full time director and as acting director of the Maine Patent Program. She is deeply engaged in studying, teaching about, and convening discussions around the role of intellectual property law in science and technology economic development policy. Under her leadership, the Center has become the state's resource for information and service on patents and technology transfer, and it is rapidly becoming a training ground for the next generation of intellectual property counselors in Maine.
Rita teaches courses at the law school in Internet law, intellectual property law, copyright and trademark law, and served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law in the Global Technology Law LLM program at Suffolk University Law School during the 2003-2004 academic year. She serves on the Maine Science and Technology Advisory Council, on the boards of the Biotechnology Association of Maine and Pop!Tech, and on committees advising the University of Southern Maine and the University of Maine System on developing research capacity.
Science involves nature, and among Rita's favorite things are hiking, running, cycling and simply being outside. She loves mountains but lives near the sea. A farm girl from Iowa, Rita received her BA in Journalism with honors and highest distinction from the University of Iowa in 1990, and a JD with honors from Drake University Law School in 1993. Following law school, she clerked with the Honorable Robert Beezer of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and practiced law with firms in Seattle, Boulder and Portland.
