The Perfect Cappuccino

In 2006 I received a cease and desist letter from Starbucks lawyers saying I needed to change the name of my business because they registered the trademark STARBUCKS DOUBLESHOT. After reading their bogus filings with the USPTO, I decided to fight. A lawyer friend/customer, Ryan Sacra took up my cause and began corresponding with Starbucks attorneys. I began doing research that contradicts their trademark claims. And we put together a tongue-in-cheek letter in response, including Appendices A through E which came with hundreds of pages from my research. One of my baristas posted about this on alt.coffee, an online forum for coffee lovers and professionals. Many people posted negative comments about my chances against the green mermaid, but a documentary filmmaker named Amy Ferraris read the post and contacted me. She was working on a film about how traditional Italian coffee had been bastardized and commoditized by Starbucks. She spent weeks following me around Tulsa, and eventually published her documentary, titled “The Perfect Cappuccino.” See how it all played out in this David and Goliath story.

Watch the trailer below.

Amy's website for The Perfect Cappuccino is at CappuccinoMovie.com

The complete film is available on YouTube, Amazon Video, and probably on VHS tape or whatever we used back then.