New York.- Chinese fast fashion giant Shein on Tuesday sued rival Temu in the United States for copying its designs, precisely the same thing that well-known brands accuse it of, and asked for a jury trial to determine compensation for damages.
According to the 80-page lawsuit, filed in a Washington DC court, Shein accuses Temu of carrying out a “scheme” of theft of industrial secrets, counterfeiting, violation of intellectual property rights and false advertising to “infiltrate” the United States, and claims that its rival loses money with each purchase.
“Temu lures U.S. consumers to download and use its mobile app with the promise of extremely low prices, but Temu makes no profit from selling these products, which are so cheap that it must subsidize each sale, losing money on every transaction,” Shein said.
Shein says Temu encourages sellers on its platform to infringe on others’ intellectual property and sell counterfeit or low-quality products, controls the prices of such goods and prevents them from being removed if they are found to be copies.
In addition, the company accuses its rival of “secret theft” by an employee, which allowed him to identify the best-selling products on Shein’s platform along with internal pricing information. Shein has been facing accusations for years of copying designs from well-known fashion brands such as H&M, Ralph Lauren, Adidas or Puma, as well as artists.
This is not the first time that Chinese e-commerce platforms have engaged in a battle in the US through their corporate parent companies, as late last year Temu accused Shein of infringing its copyright and intimidating its suppliers into making exclusive deals.
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