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Mark Thatcher was the inventor of Teva sandals. While working as a rafting guide in 1982 he noticed the lack of proper shoes for river activities. Sneakers would become heavy when wet and would take days to dry and thongs (the only kind of sandal available at the time) would slide off feet very easily.

Thatcher fashioned a thong-style sandal with nylon ankle strapping, thus creating the first sport sandal. Thatcher patented his invention, found a manufacturer and began selling the "amphibious utility sandals" by himself, selling only 200 pairs the first year. Although it was an effective piece of watersports footwear, it proved less effective for regular sports as the first Teva users often complained of blisters between the first and second toe caused by the thong-style strapping system. However, the following year a sudden high demand of Teva sandals arose as young Americans found the sandal highly fashionable.

It was then when a partnership was made between Thatcher and Deckers Corp. Deckers eventually got exclusive rights to Tevas including patent #4,793,075 for the basic design (granted 1988) and a trademark for the brand name. The sandal was redesigned, creating the Universal Strapping System. The first model was called "Hurricane" and it is the basic design of all Teva sandals.

On November 25th 2002, Deckers acquired the worldwide Teva patents, trademarks and other assets from Mark Thatcher, the Company's former licensor and the holder of the Teva patents.

Teva would continue to thrive and grow under the supervision of the Deckers Outdoor Corporation.

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