Shein v Temu Copyright Trial Opens in London

A two-week trial opened Monday at London's High Court, where fast-fashion e-commerce platform Shein accused rival Temu of copyright infringement on an industrial scale by using around 2,300 product photographs created by Shein employees to advertise lookalike clothing on its website.

Shein's barrister, Benet Brandreth, told the court that Temu's actions allowed it to publish complete product pages faster and at lower cost, giving the company an unfair market advantage. "This was an attempt to steal a march on an existing participant in the market and Temu has sought to obtain, we say, an unfair advantage," Brandreth said.

Temu, owned by Nasdaq-listed PDD Holdings, has abandoned its defense against the copyright claims over the disputed images, shifting the focus to damages, injunctive relief, and its counterclaim. Temu alleges Shein engages in anticompetitive practices by locking suppliers into exclusive manufacturing agreements that prevent workshops from selling to rivals, potentially constituting a restraint of trade under UK law. Temu's barrister, Charlotte May, argued the case has "nothing at all to do with the protection of any intellectual creativity in photographs, and...