Famous shoe company Ugg Australia, part of US company Deckers Outdoor Corporation has won a registered design infringement action against Dutch shoe company Intermedium Shoes B.V. for selling replicas of its UggÂs popular Bailey Button design shoe. The replicas were being sold in a German retail outlet which were traced back to Intermedium. The Hague District Court confirmed that UggÂs Bailey Button is a Registered Community Design in the European Union.Â
As a result, the Hague District Court ordered Intermedium to recall and destroy all its replica stock with immediate effect, produce a list of customers who purchased the infringing product and report on the the numbers manufactured and supplied. Intermedium sought to invalidate DeckerÂs Community Design Registration but failed.
A spokesperson at Dickers said ÂIntermediumÂs infringement and subsequent attempt to invalidate our long-standing Community Registered Design in the European Union illustrated the depth of the issues we face as an industry Â.
This case illustrates the importance of registering a design and the consequence of infringing a registered design.