H&M has taken legal action against the notorious fast fashion retailer Shein, accusing them of copyright infringement.
In the latest lawsuit, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) has leveled allegations against its competitor, asserting that they copied its designs. H&M’s legal filing presented compelling evidence, including photographs of their swimwear and sweaters, to support their claim that Shein had replicated their designs.
“We believe that Shein, in multiple cases, has infringed on our designs and have therefore filed this lawsuit. As it is still an ongoing case, we choose not to comment further,” an H&M spokesperson said.
The recent lawsuit comes less than two weeks after independent designers accused the company of engaging in infringement-related racketeering activities. The RICO lawsuit, filed on July 11 in California federal court, alleged that Shein utilized a “secretive algorithm” to identify popular art and subsequently reproduced artists’ designs on its fast fashion platform without permission.
As per the lawsuit, the artists claimed that Shein’s complex corporate structure enables the company to evade accountability in intellectual property infringement cases. They alleged that Shein’s “first line of defense” when confronted with a trademark cease and desist is to remove the infringing product from its websites and shift the blame onto another entity within the Shein organization.
In response to the allegations, the artists are pursuing claims for past and future damages and compensation for their legal expenses. Additionally, they seek injunctive relief to prevent Shein from engaging in further racketeering activities related to intellectual property infringement.
