Australian-owned ‘original’ Ugg manufacturer forcibly rebrands

Australian-owned and family-run business Ugg Since 1974, which claims to be the one of the original manufacturers of Ugg boots, has this week completed its rebrand to Since 74, following long-running trademark battles with US-based Deckers Outdoor Corporation.

At the heart of the change lies a decades-long dispute over who can rightfully use the word “Ugg”. In Australia, it has long been used as a general term for sheepskin boots, going as far back as the 1950s when surfers popularised them as a way to warm up after the ocean.

But internationally, the story is very different.

Overseas, Deckers Outdoor Corporation holds the “UGG” trademark in more than 130 countries. In the 1990s, the publicly listed corporation was successfully granted the protective trademark, which gave it exclusive rights to the word in those markets, even though the term is generic in Australia. It has since defended the trademark rigorously.

For Ugg Since 1974, this meant it had to drop the word “ugg” from its merchandise in all countries outside Australia and New Zealand, where the term has been ruled generic and where it owns the trademark to “Ugg Since 1974”. Then late last year, it was hit with a lawsuit from Deckers, forcing a global rebrand that became official this week.

“It’s extremely hard to fight a lawsuit against a multi-billion dollar company. Due to this scenario, for the boots leaving our borders and heading over to you guys overseas, we will transition our brand. Nothing else changes,” Todd Watts, owner of Ugg Since 1974 and grandson of founders Arthur and Faye Springthorpe, said in a social post.

Watts first broke the news to the brand’s 450,000 TikTok followers in January, later reframing the rebrand as an opportunity to double down on the company’s heritage.

By rebranding as Since 74, the company is leaning into what makes it distinctive: its family-run history and handmade boots produced on the Gold Coast, a point of difference Watts said the Deckers-owned Ugg brand, which mass-produces offshore, cannot claim.

The case underscores the larger trademark battle that Australian sheepskin bootmakers have waged for decades. In 2019, Sydney manufacturer Australian Leather lost a high-profile case in a US court after attempting to export Ugg-branded boots to America. The judge ruled in Deckers’ favour, leaving the local manufacturer without a pathway to market their boots under the name that most overseas consumers search for.

The result, many argue, is confusion. International buyers assume Deckers-owned Ugg boots are Australian-made, when almost all their products are manufactured in China or Vietnam. Meanwhile, companies like Since 74 say they are locked out of building equity around the word that describes their product.

Over the years, local manufacturers have pushed for the Australian government to treat Ugg like a protected geographical indication, similar to champagne, parmesan, or feta, recognising its cultural origins.

In 2006, IP Australia declared “Ugg” to be a generic term, but no such geographical protection exists, leaving Australian businesses at the mercy of international trademark law.

Since 74’s new logo (Tiktok)

For Watts, the rebrand represents both survival and defiance.

“[It’s] something bigger, something better. We’re stepping onto the world stage. We’re officially dropping those three little letters” he said in a social media post.

“Our name may change, but that doesn’t change the spirit that’s been built within us … This isn’t just another chapter, this is a movement.

“Since 74 reflects our legacy while allowing us to operate freely in international markets.”

The new Since 74 boots will feature a different logo and packaging, “which speaks absolute volumes” to its heritage, according to a social media post.

Some of the brand’s social content will also be forcibly removed from its profiles due to the trademark restrictions, including its Tiktok which has over 4.3 million likes.

“We are the original, we will still be the original, no matter what our label says on the back of our boots,” Watts said.