About Annette P
Annette P Heller earned her J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law in 1971. She entered the legal world at a time when intellectual property law was shifting to meet new technologies and expanding commercial uses. The law degree set the stage for a career that would center on trademarks and copyrights.
Her early post-law school work included a role as Trademark & Copyright Counsel at Ralston Purina Company in 1974. That corporate position placed her inside a consumer-products company that managed large brand portfolios. It offered hands-on experience in protecting brand identity and handling the kinds of licensing, clearance and enforcement questions that follow high-volume consumer goods.
By 1983 she moved into private practice. The change allowed her to broaden the scope of her matters and serve a wider range of clients. Her practice has included counseling on trademark selection and clearance, prosecution before trademark offices, and copyright issues tied to both creative works and commercial materials. She also has experience in proceedings before administrative bodies and in appellate forums covering patent and trademark questions.
Her professional service runs alongside her practice. She served on the Board of Governors of the Missouri Bar from 1993 to 1999. Earlier, she was vice president of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis from 1987 to 1988. Later in her career she chaired the Missouri Bar’s Patent, Trademark & Copyright Committee from 2006 to 2009. Those roles placed her in policy and governance conversations about how IP law is taught, regulated and practiced in the state.
Heller is admitted to practice in Missouri and is authorized to appear in federal appellate courts, including the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the Federal Circuit. That combination of state and federal admissions has allowed her to take matters from state filings through federal appeals when issues require it.
Colleagues and clients have found her background useful for cases that blend commercial strategy with legal protection. Her career spans corporate in-house work and private practice, giving her familiarity with both company-side risk management and client-oriented legal representation. She continues to handle trademark and copyright matters in private practice, concentrating on counseling, prosecution and dispute resolution in those areas.
