In Australia, and
many other countries
as well, Ugg boots
(also spelt ug and
ugh) are a style of
boots that has been
used generically for
well over a hundred
years. In 1984, an
Australian formed
an USA based company
and managed to trademark
this generic term.
When asked by the
USA federal trademark
office's examiner,
Susan Heller, on March
the 7th 1986 "What
is the significance
of the term ugg?"
She was told under
oath that "There
is no significance
of the term UGG in
the relevant trade
or industry."
This is despite the
fact that many years
prior; ugg, ug, and
ugh were all generic
terms for sheepskin
boots and were so
much a part of popular
culture, where already
referenced in Australian
dictionaries.
While generic terms
can be snuck into
the federal trademark
office, the law
is quite clear that
generic terms can't
not be protected
in any legal court
anywhere in the
world. Despite this,
Deckers Outdoor
Corporation and
their subsidiary,
UGG Holdings Inc.
have been threatening
legal action against
companies that continue
to use the generic
words to describe
the Australian icon,
ugg boots.
Many livelihoods
are being threatened
by Decker's campaign
which could only
be described as
another example
of a giant corporation
intent on monopolizing
an industry that
was never theirs
to own in the first
place. The difference
here is that UGG
was questionably
allowed to go through
the trademark process.
But this does not
mean the trademark
cannot be challenged
and ultimately,
overturned - something
that we intend on
doing through a
variety of methods.
In a recent article
in "The Sunday
Telegraph",
it was reported
that Westhaven Industries,
a non-profit organization,
which employs 65
intellectually disabled
people to make ugg
boots at its factory
in Dubbo, Australia,
have also been threatened
with legal action.
"We have been
selling sheepskin
products for 30
years, long before
ugg boots became
trendy in America,
and to have to give
up the name is just
ridiculous,"
Mr. Sullivan, production
manager, said.
"It's like
registering the
name sneakers –
it's a generic term
that everyone uses."
Needless to say
that the recent
threats and legal
harassment from
UGG Holdings Inc.
and its parent company
Deckers Outdoor
Corporation has
outraged not only
the dozens of manufactures,
some who have been
making ugg boots
since 1933, but
the Australian public
as well, many who
are now boycotting
all of Deckers'
other lines including
Simple, Teva, and
of course UGG Australia
which are now made
in China.
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