Deckers Brands, the owner of UGG, has appealed after losing a closely watched case over a lower-priced copy of its best-known boot. On 5 October the company filed a notice of appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit against online retailer Quince.
The appeal follows a split jury verdict in June. Jurors found that Quince’s Australian Shearling Mini Boot did infringe Deckers’ design patent for the Classic Ultra Mini, but also found that patent invalid. With no valid patent, judgment went to Quince.
From trade dress to a single patent
Deckers sued in June 2023 in the Northern District of California, claiming trade dress infringement, design patent infringement and unfair competition. The case narrowed sharply. In October 2025, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ruled that the UGG trade dress Deckers asserted was generic and could not be protected. Deckers later dropped its remaining trade dress claims, leaving one design patent, D927,161, for trial.
“Dupe” culture in the courtroom
Deckers tried to stop Quince from referring to “dupes” at trial; the judge refused. Quince’s chief executive, Siddhartha Gupta, testified that the manufacturer had offered the style to Quince and makes it for several brands, and that Quince mentioned UGG only as shorthand for the type of boot. After a four-day trial, the jury took just over two hours to reach its verdict.
On 9 September the court denied Deckers’ request for a new trial on the patent’s validity. Deckers had argued that the jury should not have considered indefiniteness and objected to Quince’s expert and prior-art evidence.
Winning on copying but losing on validity shows how thin protection can be for a design the whole market already makes.
What to watch
- Deckers’ appeal brief, which also challenges the earlier trade dress rulings.
- Whether other premium brands change how they enforce design patents against lookalikes.
