Shein faces another lawsuit, this time with H&M

In what has now added to a growing list of legal disputes, Shein is facing yet another lawsuit for copyright infringement, this time brought on by fast fashion retail giant H&M.

The Swedish group has opened a case against Shein and Zoetop Business, a Hong Kong-based company that previously owned Shein and has been listed as one of the defendants.

According to a writ of summons issued in July 2021 and obtained by Bloomberg News, H&M has asked for unspecified damages and an injunction to stop Shein from infringing on its trademarks.

In Hong Kong court documents, H&M provided details and imagery of a range of its items that it said were copied by Shein, with a number of the latter’s products bearing a “striking resemblance” to its own.

A spokesperson for H&M told the media outlet that Shein “in multiple cases had infringed” on its designs.

It builds on the increasing number of allegations levelled against Shein over recent years, during which time the retailer has regularly been accused of stealing designs largely from independent designers.

Such claims came to a head in recent weeks when three designers filed a lawsuit against the company accusing it of “large-scale and systematic theft of the intellectual property of major and minor American designers”.

Shein is also currently embroiled in a legal dispute with Chinese-owned online retailer Temu, a newly established rival for the firm which it had accused of copyright infringement as well as “deceptive business practices”.

Temu then countersued, claiming that Shein had violated US antitrust laws when dealing with clothing manufacturers. The case has been filed in Boston federal court.