UGG Trademark controversy

In 1971, Shane Stedman registered the term Ugh-boot and other terms as trademark with the Australian Trade Mark Registry. These trademarks were subsequently sold to the American company Deckers Outdoor Corporation, which also registered other trademarks, such as UGG Australia in 1999. By 2003, Deckers had begun a campaign of legal threats against Australian manufacturers and vendors using variants of "ugh boots" to describe their wares. Interestingly enough, Deckers' "Australian UGGs" are made in China as indicated on their 'made in' label.

As a result, Bruce and Bronwyn McDougall, owners of Uggs-N-Rugs, a Western Australia-based manufacturer, started legal action to have ug, ugg and ugh boots removed from the Australian Trademarks Registry. In January 2006, they succeeded in having Deckers's Australian trademark removed, and the words and the names were once again generic terms for sheepskin boots. Ian Thompson, Delegate of the Registrar of Trade Marks, stated: "[t]he evidence overwhelmingly supports the proposition that the terms UGH BOOT(S), UG BOOT(S) and UGG BOOT(S) are interchangeably used to describe a specific style of sheepskin boot and are the first and most natural way in which to describe these goods which should innocently come to the minds of people making this particular style of sheepskin boot."[1]

Deckers Outdoor Corporation decided not to challenge the decision in a higher court, but still hold the trademark in the United States and the European Union and continue to refer to their product as "UGG footwear". They have continued a campaign against other companies referring to products as "uggs boots on sale", "ugly" or "ugh" boots. They claim that they continually monitor usage of the above names on the World Wide Web, using legal means to shut down any auction or website that they feel infringes their trademark.[3] Deckers have also registered the domain uggs,[4] an example of cybersquatting. They refer to the above-mentioned decision of the Australian Registrar of Trademarks, but incorrectly[citation needed] claim it is an opinion rather than a judicial determination, and has little-to-no value as a legal precedent in the United States - which is also incorrect.[5] The website also lists the results of Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy cases taken to an arbitration provider, which mostly relate to cybersquatting by Deckers. A search of the US trademark registry yields the following information on the very first time UGG was trademarked in the US (and note that it was abandoned in 1985):

“ The Word Mark UGG Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 025. US 039. G & S: FOOTWEAR, NAMELY BOOTS MADE OF SHEEPSKIN. FIRST USE: 19791228. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19791228 Live/Dead Indicator DEAD Abandonment Date July 8, 1985.[6] ”

The following is what Deckers state at the domain related to Uggs-n-Rugs.[7]:

“ Back in 1978, young Australian surfer Brian Smith and his American cohort Doug Jensen introduced the UGG? brand sheepskin boots to the United States. In 1978/79 they Trademarked the name, bought their first container of uggs and began an initial sales trek from San Diego to Santa Cruz. Jensen left the company before the end of the first year, while Smith continued on tenaciously, eventually making his rags to riches story come true.[8] ”

Clearly there is a discrepancy in the dates. The trademark register says that "UGG" (with reference to uggs boots) wasn't used in the US until 1979 but Deckers' claim it was 1978 in their various marketing texts.

Owing to USA trademark laws, many companies selling into the USA now market these boots as "sheepskin boots".--- Popular brands are Emu Australia, Warmbat, Uggs-N-Rugs, RocketDog, Bear Paw and Koolaburra.

In 2006 a Save our Aussie Icon campaign had been started through the Internet by a number of Australian Manufacturers following on from recent legal proceedings.

Ugg boots in popular culture
Ugg boots have been referred to a handful of times in the best-selling "Clique" series. In the sixth installment, Dial L for Loser, Massie scorned Kristen for wearing her special-edtion purple studded Uggs without permission. This is just one of many examples of Ugg notification in the series.