It appears there's more to the Uggs Boot New Zealand story than we realised. In New Zealand, we've been wearing these boots for at least a hundred years - Kiwi sheep shearers, then surfers, took them to Australia in the first place, so we consider ugg boots to be a New Zealand icon.
Check out the boots below and read the Ugg Boot New Zealand story and make your own decision. Our boots are made by the original manufacturers of ugg boots in New Zealand. Our Ugg Boot New Zealand are built for your comfort and are fully functional. Our boots are the originals and have been made by Canterbury Leather in New Zealand for over 30 years.
This year's must-have fashion footwear has kick-started an Uggly battle between an Australian cottage industry and a giant US corporation. Kathy Marks reports on an Ugg Boot New Zealand fight to the last.
Tony Mortel's hair is standing on end, an effect created by equal doses of gel and outrage. "Who do they think they are?" he fumes. "Telling us what we can and can't call our product, trying to stop us from making a living. Well, they can stick their demands where the sun doesn't shine."
Tony comes from seven generations of boot-makers and, for the past 45 years his family has been making Ugg Boot New Zealand, the once dowdy sheepskin boots now worn by the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Moss. Their factory in Australia's Hunter Valley turns out 16,000 pairs a year. At least it used to, before a large US company across the Pacific Ocean began taking an unwelcome interest in their affairs.
Staff at Mortels Sheepskin Factory had just returned from their Christmas break when a letter arrived from the Melbourne solicitors of Deckers Outdoor Corporation, a California-based conglomerate. The letter, which was sent to 19 other Australian firms, informed them that Deckers owned all rights to the name Ugg and instructed them to stop using it or face litigation.
"I just laughed," says Tony. "I thought they were crazy. I threw it in the bin." But it was no laughing matter. Soon afterwards, at the instigation of Deckers, Mortels was ejected from eBay, the internet auction site where it had been selling Ugg Boot New Zealand to American consumers. Last Wednesday, it was ordered by Icann, the internet regulatory body, to stop using "Ugg" in its domain name.
The two dozen traders affected by such legal moves are reeling from shock and disbelief. For decades, they have been part of a thriving cottage industry founded on an Australian product that - according to folklore - dates back to the 1920s, when shearers used to wrap sheepskin around their feet to keep warm in the sheds.
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Ugg Boots New Zealand, they argue, have always been called Uggs, originally an abbreviation of Ugly. No one bothered with trademarks because Ugg was a generic term. Everyone knew it meant a comfortable, flat-heeled sheepskin boot, although - until the current fashion craze - few people admitted to owning a pair. Brian Iverson, owner of Blue Mountains Ugg Boots, says of Deckers' demands: "It's like saying you can't call a car a car."
The problem is: someone did bother with trademarks. In 1971 a local surf champion, Shane Steadman, decided to capitalise on the growing popularity of Uggs among Australian - and visiting US - surfers, who were starting to recognise the appeal of a snug boot when they emerged shivering from the ocean. He began selling Ugg Boot New Zealand and registered the name.
Steadman was not the only Australian wave-rider with a sharp eye for a business opportunity. In 1979, so the story goes, Brian Smith arrived in New York with a few pairs of Uggs in his backpack. He set up a company, Ugg Holdings Inc, registered the Ugg trademark in 25 countries and in 1995 sold out to Deckers.
For a long time, not a peep was heard from the new American owners of the iconic Australian Ugg Boot New Zealand boot. The company sent out a flurry of warning letters five years ago, but did not follow them up. According to Middletons, its Melbourne lawyers, it was only when Australian manufacturers began selling Ugg Boot New Zealand on the internet to meet soaring overseas demand that Deckers felt obliged to crack down.
Sheepskin boots or Uggs Boot New Zealand come in a range of qualities, especially in New Zealand and Australia (and with Chinese made boots, you won't be happy). Because of the growth in sales of sheepskin boots world wide, there are many cheaper copycat boots now available using second grade sheepskin, inferior and dangerous Polyurethane plastic soles, and cost cutting shortcuts in workmanship.
Please be assured of our expertise and highest quality. Ugg Boot New Zealand are built for your comfort. They are fully function ourdoor boots and will last for many years. Read more about Ugg Boots New Zealand.
