Australian brand forced to remove ‘ugg’ from name after legal battle with American rival

Who owns the word ugg? According to Deckers Outdoor Corporation, an American company behind the Ugg brand, they do. Australians, who use the word ugg to describe a generic type of sheepskin shoe — think kolapuri or Peshawari chapal — believe otherwise and aren’t happy with the company trademarking the word.

UGG Since 1974 — a family-owned Australian business — has been forced to change its name to Since 1974 for customers outside Australia and New Zealand after it was sued by Deckers Outdoor Corporation for its use of the word “ugg.”

The American brand Ugg was founded in 1978 and acquired by Deckers Outdoor Corporation in 1995 for $14.6 million. According to Business Insider, dozens of companies in Australia and New Zealand have trademarks containing the word “ugg,” which is why many in the region take issue with Deckers’ ownership of the trademark in more than 130 countries.

In a TikTok video posted to the brand’s official page, Todd Watts, the owner of Since 1974, said it was too difficult to fight a case against a multi-billion dollar corporation. “We are the original, we will always be the original, no matter what our label says on the back of our boots,” he said.

“We’ve been proudly making Australian boots for over five decades and three generations, and we also own the trademark here in Australia, New Zealand, where the boots originated, where ugg boots originated,” Watts explained in the video.