Melbourne company ordered to pay $7.5 million over fake Ugg boots

A Melbourne footwear company selling fake sheepskin Ugg boots has been ordered to pay US clothing company Deckers Outdoor Corp $7.5 million for what a Federal Court judge has described as one of the worst copyright breaches to come before the court.

Deckers has pursued Melbourne company Hepbourne for over five years over the sale of counterfeit boots and has obtained court orders on a number of occasions preventing Hepbourne and its director Vladimir Vaysman from selling the boots.

But according to court documents, Hepbourne continued to sell the boots at markets and on eBay, even after legal action was launched and the homes of some of its selling agents were searched.

“Hepbourne, acting through Vladimir Vaysman, was intent on manufacturing and marketing counterfeit footwear, totally disregarding Deckers’ rights and Court orders,” Federal Court judge Justice Richard Tracey said in his judgement.

“The commencement of legal proceedings, the execution of search orders and the making of restraining orders were simply treated as inconvenient interruptions to what was intended to be, and was, for over four years, a calculated and successful attempt to make money through selling footwear which purported to have been manufactured by Deckers.”

Tracey awarded Deckers $3 million in damages for lost profits and a further $3.5 million for the flagrancy of the copyright breach. The defendants were also ordered to pay $1 million in costs.

“This case must be adjudged as one of the worst of its kind to come before the Court. It is probably too generous to describe it as “flagrant”. Most of the damage complained of occurred after Hepbourne was well aware that it was engaged in infringing conduct,” Tracey wrote.

Despite Decker’s long pursuit of Hepbourne and its directors, actually getting the money looks like it could be a tough process.

According to court documents, liquidators were appointed to Hepbourne on 26 August, which meant Tracey also had to give Deckers leave to proceed with claims against the company.