Ugg Australia has not responded

THE Australian ugg boots may have been a Christmas hit in the US, but it was not a local success story. When California-based Ugg Australia sold out of several styles of its boots after influential television host Oprah Winfrey named "the Australian Ugg" as her favourite footwear, it was salt in the wound to Australian ugg manufacturers who have received threats of lawsuits from the US company. While "ugg boot" is a generic term widely used in Australia since the 1970s, the owners of Ugg Australia, Nasdaq-listed Deckers Outdoor Corporation, want to prevent companies from using the term outside Australia, including on Australian-based websites. "They lead people to believe theirs are the only ones in the world," said Bronwyn McDougall, owner of 25-year-old Perth business Uggs-N-Rugs, which renamed its UGGS"lo boots" and "hi boots" after a warning from Deckers' lawyers. James Poynton, owner of Melbourne-based online retailer Australiadirect, said he was worried Ugg Australia would threaten his overseas sales of more than 2000 pairs of ugg boots a year. "I don't understand the legal situation," he said. "I'm a little bloke." But West Australian company RousaboutUggshas taken on the giant, not wanting to lose its US sales. After receiving a warning from Deckers, Lea Allnutt sought legal advice and offered to set up a separate website for US customers. Ugg Australia has not responded. Intellectual property lawyer Philip Argy, partner at Mallesons Stephen Jaques, said Ugg Australia's threats had no legal basis, as trademarks were territorial and did not extend to sales made in another country. Stafford Davis, owner of NSW-based Clobber Leather, which renamed its ugg boots after legal threats, is furious. "It's typical of the Yanks," he said. "They want to own everything." In 1979, George Burcher, owner of Albany-based sheepskin manufacturer Wombat Lodge, began exporting ugg boots to California-based Australian Brian Smith. Mr Smith registered the ugg trademark in the US and when the two men parted ways 10 years later, his company,UGGSInternational, kept the trademark.