Former senator Nick Xenophon is joining an Australian footwear manufacturer in its legal battle against Deckers Outdoor Corporation over its use of the term 'Ugg', which the US company says is its registered brand.

Key points: Deckers began legal action in 2016 against Australian Leather for using the word 'Ugg'

Deckers began legal action in 2016 against Australian Leather for using the word 'Ugg' The US company claims it has the worldwide rights to the term

The US company claims it has the worldwide rights to the term Australian Leather will argue the term originated in Australia

The American company is suing Sydney-based company Australian Leather and its owner Eddie Oygur for selling Ugg boots in the United States.

Deckers has claimed trademark infringement and is seeking to seize the company's Ugg boot stock, property and bank accounts.

However, Mr Oygur is counter-suing and said the American company should not have the right to use the trademark 'Ugg' name.

Former South Australian senator Nick Xenophon is part of the legal team that will head to the United States for a jury trial scheduled to begin next week.

Mr Oygur told the ABC the case had been ongoing since 2016 after his Ugg boots were purchased from the US online for $1,200, and he was being sued for millions.

"Many other companies have been sued but nobody ever took it this far … how could they trademark something uniquely Australian?" he said.

"They don't even make their boots in Australia, they make them in China, and yet they're here trying to close down all manufacturers in Australia."

Mr Oygur said the case had cost him millions of dollars. ( ABC News )

The case has been an ongoing campaign for Mr Xenophon who advocated for the issue when he was a senator.

He said the Government should protect the quintessentially Australian name, just as France protects 'champagne' and Greece protects 'feta'.

"My plea to both side of politics is to get behind Eddie, and by extension the thousands of Australian manufacturing jobs that could be created here," he said.

"Instead of jumping at the opportunity to support Eddie in his landmark test case, it seems the Government — our Government — has decided to stomp on Eddie by point blank refusing support."

Deckers has claimed it has the worldwide rights to the term 'Ugg', but Mr Oygur said it was a generic term which originated in Australia from the 1960s surfing community.

'I'll probably lose everything'

Mr Oygur said he had been involved in the sheepskin industry for 35 years and had been manufacturing Ugg boots for more than 20 years.

Ugg boot manufacturer Eddie Oygur with Nick Xenophon in 2017. ( Twitter: Nick Xenophon )

He said if he was to be unsuccessful in the case, he would continue to appeal, but feared he could lose everything.

"I'll probably lose everything, my house, my living, my stock," he said.

"It's uniquely Australian and we can't call it anything else.

"They were created in Australia and they became an Australian icon, it's even in our dictionary."

Eddie Oygur is counter-suing the American company. ( ABC News )

If successful, he said it could open up opportunities for many Australian Ugg boot makers to sell products overseas.

"This is not just about me and my business, it is about every Ugg bootmaker in Australia who, because of Deckers' trademark of Ugg, are stopped from selling Ugg boots overseas," he said.

"If we can knock out the trademark it would open up to 4,000 local jobs amongst dozens of Ugg boot makers here given that there is a multi-billion dollar a year Ugg market globally."

Mr Oygur said his company had incurred over $1 million in legal costs and was due to go before a jury trial in Chicago on May 6.

Despite its Australian origin as a generic term, the word Ugg was registered as a brand in the US in the 1980s by Australian entrepreneur Brian Smith, who later sold the trademark to Deckers.

Ever since, Australian bootmakers have been banned from exporting if they use the word Ugg, making it difficult to compete against Deckers' global Ugg Australia brand.