Buy UGG Boots | Reviews

Ugg boots (sometimes called uggs) are a unisex style of sheepskin boots, made of twin-faced sheepskin with fleece on the inside and with a tanned outer surface, often with a synthetic sole.

Originating in Australia or New Zealand, where they became popular in the 1970s, ugg boots emerged as a fashion trend in the United States in the late 1990s and as a world-wide trend in the late 2000s.

There has been a dispute between some manufacturers of ugg boots, as to whether "ugg" is a generic term and thus ineligible for trademark protection, especially in the region of origin. Deckers Outdoor Corporation holds the UGG trademark in more than 100 countries worldwide. Notable exceptions are Australia and New Zealand where the term is considered generic

Ugg boots are made from sheepskins with fleece attached. The fleece is tanned into the leather and the boot is assembled with the fleece on the inside. The soles of the boots are commonly made from Ethylene-vinyl acetate (or EVA),[citation needed] and the stitching is often prominent on the outside of the boot. The fleece draws away moisture, keeping the feet dry and at body temperature. The original design was a pull-on boot in natural (undyed) tan sheepskin, about 10 inches (25 cm) in height, with rounded, almost shapeless uppers; this is now described as the "classic" design. Today they come in a variety of colours, including black, pink, blue, chestnut, and fuchsia.They are available in both pull-on and lace-up varieties and their height can range from just above the ankle to above the knee.

Being one of many clothing products made from animal skin, the production of ugg boots has been the subject of criticism by the animal liberation movement.[37] In the decade beginning in 2000, the group called for the boycott of ugg boots and their replacement with alternatives not made from animal skin.

In 2007, Pamela Anderson, realising that ugg boots were made of skin, wrote on her website: "I thought they were shaved kindly? People like to tell me all the time that I started that trend — yikes! Well let's start a new one — do NOT buy Uggs! Buy Stella McCartney or juicy boots."In February 2008, the Princeton Animal Welfare Society staged a campus protest against the fur industry, particularly attacking the ugg boot industry. "Students lay in the newly fallen snow on the Frist Campus Center's North Front Lawn on Friday afternoon, feigning death, wearing coats covered with fake blood and sporting signs that read, 'What if you were killed for your coat?

The UGG trademark has been the subject of dispute in several countries. The trademark for "Ugh-Boots" has been removed from the trademark registry in Australia and any ugg boots may be marketed there using the term "ugg." Outside Australia and New Zealand, UGG (written in capital letters) is a registered trademark of Deckers Outdoor Corporation.

In 1971, an Australian surfer, Shane Steadman, began selling ugg boots and registered the name Ugh-boots as a trademark in Australia. In 1979, Brian Smith, another Australian surfer, brought several pairs of Australian-made uggs to the US and began selling them in New York and to surfers in California.He set up Ugg Holdings Inc., acquired the Australian mark from Steadman, and in 1985 registered a U.S. trademark on a rams head logo with the words "Original UGG Boot UGG Australia". In 1995 he sold his interest to Deckers. In 1996 Deckers registered a trademark for "UGG" in the US.

In 1999, Deckers began asserting its new trademark and sent out cease and desist letters to Australian manufacturers, but did not press the issue beyond that. In the early 2000s, demand for ugg boots was soaring, partly as a result of US$8 million spent on marketing by Deckers, but also due to several celebrity endorsements.Australian and USA based manufacturers began selling uggs over the Internet, and Deckers' law firm Middletons of Melbourne began a serious effort to halt the Australian companies' sales.In 2004, Deckers sent cease and desist letters to a number of Australian and USA based manufacturers, including Mortels Sheepskin Factory, preventing them from selling uggs on eBay or from using the word in domain names.

In response to these actions by Deckers, some Australian manufacturers formed the Australian Sheepskin Association to fight the corporation's claim, arguing that "ugg" is a generic term referring to flat-heeled, pull-on sheepskin boots. They further argued that Australian manufacturers had been making and trading this style of boot for decades, including exporting them to the US. One of these manufacturers, Perth's Uggs-N-Rugs, appealed to Australian trademark regulators, who in 2006 ruled "ugg" is indeed a generic term and stated that the trademark "Ugh-boots" should be removed from the trademark register.The officer who heard the case stated that the "evidence overwhelmingly supports the proposition that the terms (ugg, ugh and ug boots) are interchangeably used to describe a specific style of sheepskin boot and are the first and most natural way in which to describe these goods. The 2006 ruling only applies in Australia and Deckers still owns the trademarks in all other jurisdictions, including the US, China, Japan and the European Union.

In 2005, the validity of the UGG trademark was challenged in federal court in California; the court ruled for Deckers, stating that consumers in the US consider UGG to be a brand name. In his final order, the judge stated that the defendants had provided anecdotal evidence of the term's generic usage, but Deckers countered through submitting declarations from four professionals in the footwear industry who stated that "UGG" is widely recognized in the industry as a brand name, not a generic term

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