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UGG Australia is a registered trademark in the United States, Europe and 100+ countries for a brand of sheepskin boots and other footwear. The UGG Australia brand is owned by Deckers Outdoor Corp., a United States Company. There have been various disputes within Australia and the United States about the validity of Ugh/ugg trademark, as noted below.

The UGG Australia brand is best known for its “Classic” sheepskin boots with a wool inner lining and a tanned outer surface worn by both men and women. Uggs have been identified as a fashion trend for men and women since the early 2000s.^[1][2] In late 2008, Ugg boots grew again in popularity with men as male celebrities were seen in them.^[3]

[edit] Trademark controversy

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In Australia and the United States, Deckers’ rights in the Ugg mark have been challenged, with differing outcomes. In 1971, Shane Stedman registered the term UGH-BOOT” on the Australian Trade Mark Registry.^[4] Stedman sold his UGH brand boots widely in Australia throughout the 1970s and 1980s. This registration was subsequently sold to Deckers Outdoor Corporation which also registered other trademarks including UGG AUSTRALIA in Australia.

Bruce and Bronwyn McDougall, owners of Uggs-N-Rugs, a Western Australia-based manufacturer, started legal action against one of Deckers’ trademarks in 2005. Specifically, they brought a non-use action against Deckers alleging that Deckers had not actively used the UGH-BOOT registration in Australian commerce for the past three years. Their action was successful, and the UGH-BOOT registration was removed from the Australian Trademark Registry. In a different non-use action, however, Deckers’ UGG AUSTRALIA Australian trademark was confirmed and remains as a registered trademark in Australia.

Deckers Outdoor Corporation decided not to challenge the decision in a higher court, and still hold the trademark in the United States and the European Union and 100+ countries [1] and [2] and [3] protecting their brand name as “UGG footwear”. In order to protect the global recognition in its UGG brand name, Deckers is obliged to protect consumers from product confusion, such as when Australian manufacturers and vendors use “ugg” to sell sheepskin boots over the Internet outside of Australia. Many of these manufacturers refer to their products as “ugg”, or “ugh” boots, although the use of the terms outside of Australia is considered trademark infringement of Deckers’ registrations outside of Australia. 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.^[5]

Deckers have also registered the domain uggsnrugs.com,^[6][7] The website also lists the results of Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy cases taken to an arbitration provider.

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

The UGG trademark in the United States was first registered in 1984 but has gone through several stylistic changes and changes in ownership until its present state. A stylized version of UGG, Serial number 73492075,was first registered in 1984 by UGG imports, which was eventually acquired by Deckers. This mark was abandoned in 1985. In 1985 they then registered trademark 73571139 which featured a picture of a sheep along with a stylized version of UGG and the words ORIGINAL UGG BOOT AUSTRALIA. This mark was abandoned in 1987.

In 1990 UGG International registered another stylized word mark,74038440, which was abandoned in 2000.

The actual word mark for UGG,74668751, was filed in 1995 by UGG Holding and then assigned to Deckers. This mark was abandoned in 2007 when Deckers filed a new series of trademarks including UGG and derivations of it with amended classifications.^[8]

Owing to USA trademark laws, many companies selling into the USA now market these boots as “sheepskin boots”.— Popular brands are Australia Luxe Collective, 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. Also the well-connected Australian Festival USA, Inc, is promoting the Australian made UGG boots and has taken up the fight to get the world know the difference between the MADE in CHINA boots and Australian made ones.

A pair of ugg boots

Ugg boots (sometimes called uggs)^[1] are unisex sheepskin boots, made of twin-faced sheepskin with fleece on the inside and with a tanned outer surface.

Ugg boots often have a synthetic sole, although this is not universal. Heights range from around the ankle to above the knee, they are available in a range of different colours as both slip-on and lace-up varieties, and they are produced by a number of manufacturers. The natural insulative properties of sheepskin gives thermostatic properties to the boots: the thick fleecy fibers on the inner part of the boots allow air to circulate and keep the feet at body temperature.^[2] This means that ugg boots can be worn without socks even in relatively cold weather.

Ugg boots are believed to have been first developed in Australia or New Zealand, although the exact date is uncertain—they have been, at different times, identified with pilots in World War I who are said to have worn them for warmth in unpressurized planes, shearers in rural Australia during the 1920s, surfers and competitive swimmers who wore them in the 1960s and 1970s for keeping warm while out of the water. In the early 2000s, they became a fashion trend in the United States, leading to increased global sales.^[2]

[edit] History

Cutting ugg boot pieces from a sheepskin using a cutting press

Stitching the innersole of an ugg boot

There has been considerable dispute over the origins of the ugg boot style, with both Australia and New Zealand claiming to have been the originators of the footwear.^[3] Nevertheless, it appears that the boots were used by aviators during World War I, who referred to them as “fug boots” (surmised to be a shortened form of “flying ugg boots”),^[4] and that they were present in rural regions of Australia during the 1920s.^[3] While it is not clear when manufacturing started, by 1933, ugg boots were being manufactured by Blue Mountains Ugg Boots,^[5] and Mortels Sheepskin Factory were making the boots from the late 1950s.^[4]

In the 1960s, ugg boots became a popular option for competitive surfers,^[6] who used the boots to keep their feet warm after exiting from the surf.^[7] It was surfing which helped popularise the boots outside of Australia and New Zealand, when surfer Brian Smith started selling the boots in the United States through the company Ugg Holdings, Inc. in 1979.^[7] Later, ugg boots emerged as a fashion trend in the United States, with celebrities such as Kate Hudson, Sarah Jessica Parker and Pamela Anderson wearing the boots, increasing demand.^[8][9] However, Pamela Anderson renounced ugg boots in 2007 upon realising that they were made from animal skin.^[9]

The terms ugg boots, ugh boots and ug boots have been used as generic terms for sheepskin boots in Australia and New Zealand since at least the 1970s,^[1][6] although individual accounts have suggested that the terms (or variations thereof) were employed earlier. The 1970s saw the emergence of advertising using the names,^[1] but Brian Smith has stated that the boots were referred to as “uggs” long before the word was trademarked (in 1971),^[10] and Frank Mortel claims to have been making ugg boots under the “ugg” name since 1958.^[11][12]

Fashion ugg boots

[edit] Design

Ugg boots are traditionally made from sheepskin. The wool is tanned into the leather, and the upper part of the boot is assembled with the fleece on the inside. The soles of the boots are made from rubber, and the stitching is often prominent on the outside of the boot. The fleece draws away moisture, keeping the feet dry and at body temperature.^[2] Today they come in a variety of colours, including black, pink, blue, chestnut, and fuchsia.^[13] They are available in both slip-on and lace-up varieties and their height can range from just above the ankle to above the knee.^[13]

Some variations of ugg style boots have also been made from kangaroo fur and leather.^[14] There are also synthetic boots. Although derided as “fake” by some in the industry,^[15] their lower price made them appealing to large retail chains such as Myer.^[16]

[edit] Trademark dispute

In 1971, Shane Steadman, a surfing champion, began selling Australian-style ugg boots in the United States, mostly on the West Coast.^[17] In 1979, Brian Smith, another surfer, decided to begin selling them in New York. He set up a company known as Ugg Holdings Inc. and registered a trademark on “ugg boots” in 25 countries; he sold his interest to Deckers Outdoor Corporation in 1995.^[17] In 1999, Deckers began asserting its new trademark and sent out cease and desist letters to Australian manufacturers of ugg boots, but it didn’t press the issue beyond that.^[17] It was only when those manufacturers began selling their wares over the Internet that Middletons, Deckers’ law firm, began a serious effort to halt their sales.^[17]

By the early 2000s ugg boots’ popularity had exploded as a result of several key celebrity endorsements.^[17] In 2004, Deckers sent cease and desist letters to 20 Australian manufacturers and the issue came to a head.^[17] Many of these manufacturers formed a group known as the “Ugg Boot Footwear Asssociation” to fight Deckers’ trademark claim, arguing that “ugg” is a shortened form of “ugly.” They further argued that Australian manufacturers had been making this style of boot for many decades and that the “ugg” moniker is therefore generic. One of these manufacturers, Perth’s Uggs-N-Rugs, appealed to Australian trademark regulators, who in 2006 ruled that “ugg” is indeed a generic term and stated that it should be removed from the trademark register. The officer who heard the case stated that the “evidence overwhelmingly supports the proposition that the terms (ugg, ugh and ug boots) 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”.^[17] However, the ruling only applies to Australia and Deckers still owns the trademarks in other jurisdictions (including the United States, the European Union and more than 100 other countries.^[18]

In 2005, the validity of the UGG trademark was challenged in Federal Court in California; the courts ruled for Deckers, stating that consumers in the United States consider Ugg to be a brand name.^[19] A similar challenge was also rejected in the Netherlands.^[20]

[edit] Concern for animals

Being one of many clothing products made from slaughtered animal skins, the production of ugg boots has been the subject of criticism by the animal rights movement. In the decade beginning in 2000, there were calls for the boycott of ugg boots and their replacement with alternatives not made from animal skin.

In 2007, Pamela Anderson, realising that ugg boots were made of skin, wrote on her website: “I thought they were shaved kindly? People like to tell me all the time that I started that trend — yikes! Well let’s start a new one — do NOT buy Uggs! Buy Stella McCartney or juicy boots”.^[21]

In February 2008, the Princeton Animal Welfare Society staged a campus protest against the fur industry, particularly attacking the ugg boot industry, popular amongst male and female college students. “[S]tudents lay in the newly fallen snow on the Frist Campus Center’s North Front Lawn on Friday afternoon, feigning death, wearing coats covered with fake blood and sporting signs that read, ‘What if you were killed for your coat?’”^[22]