Shein is suing Temu for copyright infringement as the legal dispute between the two companies heats up

Online fast-fashion giant Shein filed another lawsuit against competitor Temu, accusing the China-based shopping platform of stealing its designs, copying its product images and engaging in other types of fraud.

The complaint filed in a federal court in Washington this week alleges that Temu, which has grown in popularity in the US, subsidized its low prices by encouraging sellers to offer counterfeit items, stolen designs and substandard products.

The allegations come as Shein himself is the target of lawsuits from brands and designers who have accused the company of stealing their designs and selling knock-off items on his e-commerce site.

Asked for comment about the new trial, a spokesman for Temu said in a prepared statement that “Shein’s audacity is unbelievable.”

“Shein, buried under her own mountain of intellectual property lawsuits, has the audacity to invent allegations against others for the misconduct they are repeatedly sued for,” the spokesperson said.

The new lawsuit against Temu is an escalation of the conflict between the two companies, which have sued each other in US courts.

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Temu, a platform owned by Chinese e-commerce company PDD Holdings, claimed in a previous lawsuit that Shein forced clothing manufacturers to submit to unfair supply chain arrangements to prevent them from working with Temu.

Shein, which was founded in China but is now based in Singapore, accused Temu in court of engaging in deceptive business practices and misleading consumers by creating impostor social media accounts using his name Shein, but they were directing people to Temu’s platform.

The companies dropped those lawsuits in October. Temu sued Shein again in December, accusing its rival of using “mob-style intimidation” of suppliers to prevent its growth in the US.

Shein lawyers wrote in the new complaint that at least one Temu employee stole “valuable trade secrets” from Shein, which identify best-selling products and internal pricing information.

They also again claimed that Temu was falsely posing as Shein via impostor X accounts that were directing customers to Temu’s website. They also alleged that Temu engaged in similar practices through sponsored Google ads.