Bearpaw Footwear responded to Decker Outdoors' lawsuit charging the brand with copying the designs of its Ugg brand. Bearpaw said the suit has only come about due to the “momentum” the company is experiencing in the marketplace and defended the craftsmanship of the ten-year old brand.

“Sometimes, when a brand has momentum and starts to gain market-share, others tend to get a little rattled and feel the need to attack them or disparage their quality or creativity,” said Tom Romeo, Bearpaw owner, who founded the brand in 2000. “We're doing some great work; I'm very proud of my team and the collections they've created.  We're a very down-to-earth brand and have connected with our consumers, who appreciate quality, are style-conscious, and they want to live life comfortably, as we say.  Our consumer identifies with the lifestyle and attitude we promote. 


Bearpaw is distributed throughout the United States and in 13 countries around the world.

As reported, Decker's suit in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California claims Bearpaw's “slavish imitation of virtually every Deckers boot illegally cashes in on the enormous popularity, goodwill and value of Decker's highly recognizable trade-dress designs that are embodied in its boots.”

The suit accuses Bearpaw of directly copying exact details of several UGG models, including the Classic, Sundance II and Cardy. Besides an order preventing Bearpaw from continuing to make the alleged infringing merchandise, Deckers is seeking reimbursement on past profits made on any infringing merchandise as well as punitive damages