Mortels owners said ugg boot naming rights fight between US company Deckers and Australian Leather will be a David and Goliath battle

Stephanie and Tony Mortel, who also manufacture sheepskin boots, said the David and Goliath battle between Australian Leather Pty Ltd and the US Decker Corporation will be a tough and expensive one.

Australian Leather, a manufacturer of ugg boots is facing an uphill battle in a US court where the global Decker Corporation is seeking to prevent it from describing its sheepskin boots as ugg boots.

The court action against the Sydney small business is the latest attempt by Deckers to trademark the word ugg around the world.

“Australian Leather is trying to have the trademark declared invalid but I think they have a tough battle on their hands as Deckers is a multi billion dollar company,” Mrs Mortel said.

Founder of Australian Leather Eddie Oygur said Deckers has closed dozens of small manufacturers in Australia. He said if legal protection was provided it would create many hundreds of jobs and tens of millions in export earnings among Australian ugg boot makers.

Mrs Mortel said there are about 12 other manufacturers such as Mortels left in Australia trying to earn an honest living. “It is incredibly petty for Deckers to even consider the Australian manufacturers because their biggest threat comes out of China,” Mrs Mortel said.

“The majority of uggs sold in Australia are imported from China, de-tagged once they are in Australia and then re-tagged as ugg boots and claim to be Australian made.

“Deckers would be better off focusing their time, effort and resources on the genuine copy cats such as the Chinese rather than worrying about honest manufacturers like us.”

Mrs Mortel said her company’s sales are mostly domestic and carry the Mortels Ugg branding on products. Any international sales via the Internet are tagged Mortels.

“Deckers have accused Australian manufacturers for decades for deceiving and misleading the consumer.”