The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Washington, comes as Shein himself has been fending off similar allegations from a number of different brands and independent artists, including Levi Strauss and H&M.
In its complaint, Shein accuses It, which is owned by PDD Holdings, of masquerading as a legitimate online marketplace by encouraging sellers to steal designs from other brands and then preventing them from removing products from the platform even if they admit to infringement.
"Temu entices American consumers to download and use its mobile app by promising an exceptionally low price. However, Temu does not profit from the sale of these products, which are priced so low that Temu must subsidize each sale, losing money on each transaction," the complaint said.
“Only by encouraging its sellers to infringe the intellectual property rights of others and sell counterfeit or substandard goods can Temu hope to minimize the enormous losses it subsidizes,” he added in the lawsuit.
In response, Temu's spokesman said that "Shein's audacity is unbelievable."
“SHEIN, buried under its own mountain of intellectual property lawsuits, has the audacity to fabricate allegations against others for misconduct for which it has been repeatedly sued,” the spokesperson said.
The dueling e-tailers have taken the retail industry by storm with their ultra-low-priced products and ability to respond to trends much faster than their existing competitors. Along the way, they have faced a wave of criticism for their labor practices, ties to the Chinese government and alleged use of other brands’ designs.
As rivals battle for market share, they have turned to the courts, accusing each other of a series of outrageous allegations. Last year, Temu sued Shein over copyright concerns and allegations that he used “mafia-style intimidation” to get suppliers to sign exclusivity deals.
Shein accused Temu of having at least one of Temu’s employees steal “valuable trade secrets” that identified Shein’s best-selling products, along with internal pricing information, to help it compete.
“Armed with the stolen information, Temu then directed his salespeople to copy these and other top-selling Shein products and sell the counterfeits on Temu’s website and mobile app,” the complaint stated.
“To advertise counterfeit versions of Shein products, Temu reproduced virtually identical copyrighted images of Shein products and used them or instructed sellers to use them as promotional images on Temu’s website and mobile app.”
