Item 1 of 2 A customer holds shopping bags with a Shein logo in the first physical space of online fast-fashion retailer Shein on the day of its opening inside the Le BHV Marais department store, the Bazar de l’Hotel de Ville, in Paris, France, November 5, 2025. REUTERS\/Sarah Meyssonnier\/File Photo<\/p>\n
[1\/2]A customer holds shopping bags with a Shein logo in the first physical space of online fast-fashion retailer Shein on the day of its opening inside the Le BHV Marais department store, the Bazar de… Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab<\/a> Read moreShein loses bid to hold Temu liable for copyright infringementRuling follows first trial in global legal battle between rivalsCourt says Temu was only ‘intermediary’ for merchantsTemu’s competition law case against Shein to be heard in 2027<\/p>\n LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) – Online fast-fashion platform Shein on Thursday lost \u200cits London lawsuit against rival Temu over alleged copyright infringement, in a ruling that could be beneficial for online marketplaces hosting third-party sellers.<\/p>\n The ruling, which comes as Shein aims for a more than $30 billion valuation in a Hong Kong initial public offering, concerns the \u200bfirst round of the companies’ London legal battle. Temu’s counterclaim that Shein broke competition law by \u200btying suppliers to exclusive agreements is due to go to trial next year.<\/p>\n Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n Shein had accused \u2060Temu of breaching its copyright “on an industrial scale”, arguing at a trial in May<\/a> that Temu \u2013 owned by \u200bPDD Holdings (PDD.O), opens new tab<\/a> \u2013 used photos of Shein’s own-brand clothing to “piggy-back” on a more established competitor.<\/p>\n Judge Kelyn Bacon rejected Shein’s arguments \u200bthat Temu infringed Shein’s copyright and said that, even if it had infringed, Temu would not be liable.<\/p>\n Shein had initially argued that Temu reproduced Shein’s photos, but did not pursue that at the trial as Temu’s servers are outside the United Kingdom and \u200bany reproduction was outside the UK, Bacon said in her ruling.<\/p>\n A Shein spokesperson said there was no dispute \u200bthat Shein owned the thousands of photos it had sued over and that they had appeared on Temu’s website.<\/p>\n “Yet despite copying \u200con an \u2060industrial scale, it has avoided liability in the UK simply because the servers supporting its UK website happen to sit in Ireland,” the spokesperson said. Temu did not immediately comment.<\/p>\n FAST-FASHION RIVALS FACE OFFThe case is part of a global legal battle<\/a> between Shein and Temu, which have expanded rapidly in international markets with low-cost clothing, accessories and \u200bgadgets.<\/p>\n In her written ruling, Bacon \u200brejected the argument that \u2060Temu authorised the infringement of Shein’s copyright by merchants who uploaded photos to its website, saying Temu “prohibits merchants from uploading infringing content”.<\/p>\n The judge also significantly ruled that, if \u200bthere had been copyright infringement, Temu could have relied on the so-called hosting \u200bdefence, because it \u2060was only an “intermediary” and did not have the requisite knowledge of any infringement.<\/p>\n “In so far as any infringements could be established in this case, Temu did not have either actual knowledge of the infringements or awareness of facts or \u2060circumstances from \u200bwhich the infringements would have been apparent,” Bacon said.<\/p>\n She also upheld \u200bTemu’s counterclaim, which sought damages for having to remove listings when Shein obtained an injunction in relation to images for which Shein did \u200bnot own the copyright.<\/p>\n Reporting by Sam Tobin; additional reporting by Helen Reid; editing by William James and Susan Fenton<\/p>\n Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n