Intellectual Property Law · The Business and Property Courts (Intellectual Property List)
Roadget Business Pte Ltd & Anor v Whaleco UK Limited
Checked against the judgment on 14 August 2026 · how we verify
Facts
The claimants, Roadget Business Pte Ltd (the Singapore parent of the SHEIN group) and Shein Distribution UK Ltd, sued Whaleco UK Limited, which operates the Temu online marketplace in the UK, for copyright infringement under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 in photographs of Shein-branded clothing used on Temu product listings. The claim covered 2,559 listings across three categories of photographs: employee works taken by Guangzhou Shein staff, supplier works, and agency works. Shein sent a letter before action on 6 June 2023 appending 8,036 Temu URLs, and issued its claim on 7 August 2023; interim injunctions requiring take-down were granted on 28 September 2023 and 5 February 2024, each supported by a cross-undertaking in damages. Temu counterclaimed under those cross-undertakings and under ss. 2 and 18 of the Competition Act 1998, the competition issues having been transferred to the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Liability was tried on a sample: 20 product listings were selected, but Shein abandoned all three agency works and 12 supplier works, leaving four employee works and one supplier work, the Strawberry Nightdress. Temu conceded ownership of the employee works shortly before trial, denied infringement, and relied on the hosting defence.
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