Temu sues rival Shein over "Mafia-style intimidation"

Fast-fashion giant Shein has been accused of "Mafia-style intimidation" of suppliers and misuse of intellectual property laws in a lawsuit filed by rival online retailer Temu.

The lawsuit, which was filed by Temu's parent company PDD Holdings in Washington DC on Wednesday, accuses Shein of trying to "illegally interfere" with its business.

Among the claims is an allegation that Shein "falsely imprisoned" merchants it believed were working with Temu, including detaining representatives in its offices for many hours.

The merchants also had their electronic devices confiscated while being detained and were threatened with penalties for doing business with its rival, according to the filing.

Described as a "desperate plan to eliminate the competitive threat", Temu also claimed that Shein misused intellectual property laws to "disrupt Temu’s operations and damage Temu’s valuable brand" and unlawfully copy its intellectual property.

A spokesperson for Temu said: "We sued Shein because recently their actions have escalated.

"They began to illegally detain merchants, forcibly asking for their phones, stealing our merchant accounts and passwords, stealing our business secrets, and simultaneously forcing merchants to leave our platform."

A spokesperson for Shein told TheIndustry.fashion: "We believe this lawsuit is without merit and we will vigorously defend ourselves."

The move comes weeks Temu and Shein both dropped their previous lawsuits over antitrust and copyright concerns.