An Australian shoe company has been ordered to pay $450,000 to Deckers, the maker of the UGG boot

Australian Leather, an Australian shoe company has been ordered to pay $450,000 to Deckers, the maker of the UGG boot.

A jury for the US District Court found 12 pairs of sheepskin-lined boots sold by Australian Leather infringed US-based Decker’s ‘UGG’ trademarks.

Deckers first filed an action against Australian Leather in 2016, asking the US court to limit the sales of Australian Leather’s boots to Australia and New Zealand so as to not cause consumer confusion in the US.

Australian Leather argued “ugg” is a generic term origination in Australia from the 1960s surfing community, but this argument was rejected by the court.

Additionally, Deckers also alleged Australian Leather had infringed four of its design patents. The verdict on whether Australian Leather infringed the design patents will be decided in a separate non-jury trial.

In December 2018, Deckers took action against alleged online counterfeiters in China for selling fake UGG boots. It said the counterfeiters ran online stores designed to appear as authorised sellers. Deckers sought an injunction against the companies and $2 million for each use of the UGG trademark.

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