Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein has filed a lawsuit against rival Temu, alleging that Temu has engaged in extensive counterfeiting, intellectual property theft, and fraud, CNBC reports.
Shein alleges that Temu, owned by PDD Holdings, encourages sellers to copy other brand’s designs and fails to remove infringing products from its platform. Shein claims Temu’s low prices are subsidized by its counterfeit practices, and that Temu’s employees have stolen trade secrets to replicate Shein’s best-selling items. It also accuses Temu of reproducing copyrighted images of Shein’s products for advertising and misleading consumers by pretending to be Shein on social media and running deceptive ads.
Temu has dismissed the allegations, accusing Shein of hypocrisy, pointing out that Shein itself faces numerous intellectual property lawsuits. This lawsuit follows previous legal disputes between the two companies, with Temu having previously sued Shein over copyright issues and alleged supplier intimidation.
