Aussies win ugg boot battle

PERTH: Australian manufacturers of sheepskin boots have won back the right to call their footwear uggs, ending a two year US domination of the name.
The name ugg or ugh given to the infamous boots, which have been sold in Australia for several decades, was registered as a trademark in the early 1970s by an Australian man called Shane Steadman, but was later purchased by US-based company Deckers in 1995.
It wasn't until 2003 that Deckers successfully took legal action, writing letters to more than 19 Australian companies, ordering them to stop using the name ugg.
Following the move a strong contingent of Australian ugg boot manufacturers rallied together in a bid to legally re-claim the use of the name, which is understood to have originated in Australia in the 1960s.
Bronwyn and Bruce McDougall, owners of Perth-based store Uggs-N-Rugs, were one such pair to join the fight, lodging applications with the Government trademark regulator IP Australia in December 2003 in an attempt to take the term ugh-boots from Deckers.
The landmark news, which was announced on January 16, now signals the end of Deckers sole use of the name. If Deckers don't appeal the decision the name will be removed from the Australian register of trademarks, meaning it will be a generic name.
"It's fantastic news for all Australians," said Bronwyn McDougall.
"It now means that all Australian manufacturers can call their shoes ugg boots without fear of being sued."
David Stewart, special counsel with Perth-based law firm Minter Ellison, who represented the McDougall's, agreed the result was good news to many Australians.
"It was a very good outcome at the end of the day. Bronwyn and Bruce pulled together with a lot of other people in the industry and gathered evidence to show that ugg boots and variations of the word were generic descriptive terms, so the hard work paid off."
Deckers has until February 7 to launch an appeal with the federal court.