According to Bloomberg News, on July 25th, Swedish fast fashion retail brand H&M is suing SHEIN for infringing its copyright and trademark, demanding compensation, and immediately taking off the shelves and stopping selling these goods.
A spokesman for H&M said today: “Our copyright infringement lawsuit against Shein in Hong Kong is in progress. We believe that Shein has infringed our design (copyright) in many cases. ”
According to Hong Kong court documents, H&M stated in the complaint that there are “extremely obvious similarities between Shein’s products and theirs, indicating that they must be copied”; It is also pointed out that Shein’s unauthorized and obvious reproduction of H&M’s copyright works is “so large”.
Shein, currently headquartered in Singapore, said by email through a representative that they would not comment on the ongoing litigation.
It is understood that this case began in 2021. According to the summons issued in July 2021, in addition to Shein Group Ltd, the defendant also has Shein’s entity company Zoetop Business Co in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong court first heard the case in September 2021. H&M claimed that SHEIN had released infringing goods to the public in Hong Kong, and sold these clothes in Hong Kong and other regions through the Internet and disseminated pictures of them, which violated the Copyright Ordinance. H&M also accused SHEIN of importing and exporting infringing goods to Hong Kong and trading in Hong Kong, which violated the provisions of the Copyright Ordinance.
H&M provided a lot of evidence, including photos of dozens of products, from swimsuits to sweaters, as evidence that SHEIN stole its design.
As a fast-growing e-commerce platform, SHEIN has been frequently sued for intellectual infringement in recent years. According to Bloomberg News, this year alone, more than a dozen lawsuits accusing SHEIN of infringing intellectual property rights have been filed in the United States. In the past three years, SHEIN has been listed as the defendant in at least 50 federal lawsuits involving trademark or copyright infringement in the United States, compared with less than 10 similar lawsuits filed by H&M..
In addition to the dispute with H&M in China and Hongkong, SHEIN also launched legal battles with other brands and platforms in the United States, including plagiarism allegations with brands such as Levi’s and Dr. Martens, and competition disputes with Temu, a subsidiary of Pinduoduo.
Post time: Jul-28-2023