You 've probably heard this one before : Little guy gets too close to a trademark held by a big company . Big company threatens legal action . Little guy backs off . But have you heard the one where the small business owner responds to a cease and desist order from Starbucks with a satirical letter and a check for $ 6 ? At issue : A craft beer called `` Frappicino . '' But we 're getting ahead of ourselves . Let 's start at the beginning . Jeff Briton owns the Exit 6 Pub and Brewery in Cottleville , Missouri . He has for two and a half years . The place is n't a fancy gastro pub , in fact , it does n't even have a kitchen . It does one thing and does it well : serve craft beer seven days a week , starting at 4 p.m. A beer is born . Last January , Briton mixed two of his creations together : A vanilla crème and a chocolate coffee ale . The result , according to a customer , tasted a whole lot like a certain blended coffee ice beverage served at the more than 5,500 Starbucks locations worldwide . The customer wrote about the creation on a beer website , Un Tapped , and called it a `` Frappicino '' -- one letter off from the Starbucks trademarked name . Fast forward 11 months . Cease and desist . Last week , Briton received a letter from Starbucks ' lawyers , asking him to stop using the name . `` The FRAPPICINO mark only differs from Starbucks Coffee Co. 's FRAPPUCCINO mark by one letter , '' the letter said , `` and is phonetically identical . '' The bar 's use of the name would cause `` confusion '' among buyers , it added . The message was clear : you violated our trademark . Stop . But in the black and white legalese , Briton saw an opportunity . `` This huge law firm sends me this letter , '' Briton told CNN on Monday night . `` How many hours did that lawyer have to spend in sending that out ? '' Briton says he reckons that Starbucks spent more in law firm billable hours than he made in the entire month of December . In other words , Briton felt he had to respond . 'We 're poor spelers ' Addressing his response to the lawyer and `` Mr . Bucks , '' he referred to the offending beverage and trademark as `` The F Word '' so as to fend off further litigation risk . `` It has recently come to the Exit 6 Pub and Brewerys attention that there were 3 check ins to the beer with a very similar name to the `` F Word '' . Unfortunately it was only similar to the F Word because we meant to call it the same thing . Lucky for us , we 're poor spelers . '' `` We just feel awful about calling a beer the F Word , '' the letter went on . `` We are bad people . We feel shame . '' And while Briton wrote that he would stop calling the beer `` The F Word , '' he also wanted to reassure Mr . Bucks that he and his customers meant no harm . `` I guess that with there being a Starbucks on every corner of every block in every city that some people may think they could get a Starbucks at a local bar , '' he wrote . `` So that was our mistake . '' Check in the mail . Briton said he wanted to make amends . So , in an effort to `` remain in good standings , '' he included a check for the `` full amount of profit gained '' from sales of the offending brew . Total number of beers sold : three . The check to Starbucks : $ 6 . People love stories about little guys standing up to corporations with big pockets . And soon , Briton 's story was splashed all over mainstream media . `` Even someone very inebriated should not find coffee and beer to be confusingly similar , '' wrote Mike Sandburg on the bar 's Facebook page . Added Mindy Schildroth : `` I think you should name your next beer Six Bucks ! '' And Martin Lawler said he 'd fly from Oakhurst , California , just to order the beer . `` And I do n't like stouts ! ! '' Request was 'respectful ' Laurel Harper , a manager for Starbucks communication , told CNN the request her company sent to Briton was `` respectful . '' `` Just like many businesses , trademark law requires all companies , including Starbucks , to consistently protect its brand , '' she said via e-mail . `` We always prefer to resolve trademark disputes informally and amicably whenever possible , and we appreciate Exit 6 Pub and Brewery respecting our request to avoid confusion among customers . '' Harper told CNN she had n't heard about Briton 's check . She said Starbucks would n't be cashing it . The experience prompted Briton to stop producing another beer , he said tongue planted firmly in cheek : . The `` Starbuck-McDonalds-Coca Cola-Marlboro Honey Lager . ''
The beer is a creme and a coffee ale . A customer called it Frappicino . It sends Starbucks $ 6 to ` ` make amends '' The customer says it ' n't cash the check .