Florida patent lawyer faced with reciprocal discipline for ignoring clients.

Byline: Michaela Paukner, mpaukner@wislawjournal.com

A Florida patent lawyeris faced withreciprocal discipline in Wisconsin for failing to speak and listen tothe inventors he took on as clients.

TheWisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation charged Michael Starkweather with two counts of misconduct related todiscipline he received fromtheU.S. Patent and Trademark Office in October.

Starkweather, founder of ClearStar IP in Tampa, Fla., provides patent and trademark services to clients.He had been taking on clients referred to him by World Patent Marketing, a company that connects inventors with services related to discount marketing, development and referrals.

Starkweather was charged with six counts of misconduct related to hiswork for WPM clients, including not listening to and informing the inventors.In October 2019, theU.S. Patent and Trademark Office suspended Starkweather's ability to practice for 36 months.

The Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation is seeking reciprocal discipline for Starkweather. His...