STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish online fashion retailer Nelly said on Friday it had appealed a court ruling that cleared two units of much bigger rival Shein of infringing its copyright.
While Sweden’s Patent and Market Court earlier this month ruled that an Ireland-based Shein subsidiary had used copies of pictures owned by Nelly without permission, it cleared two other Shein units of similar wrongdoing.
The court found Infinite Styles Ecommerce had used Nelly’s pictures on Shein’s website in Sweden, but dismissed the company’s claim against parent group Roadget Business and Dublin-based Infinite Styles Services.
The court imposed a fine of 500,000 Swedish crowns ($53,104) that Infinite Styles Ecommerce Ltd would only have to pay if it infringed Nelly’s copyright again.
Nelly was ordered to pay the legal costs of the two firms that were cleared.
“We want all three companies to be held accountable and have this threat of a fine if they infringe again,” CEO Helena Karlinder-Ostlundh told Reuters, adding that her company was seeking competition on equal terms.
“We felt that this is a broader question, not just for us, but for the industry as a whole,” Karlinder-Ostlundh said.
Shein, known for cheap fashion sourced direct from factories in China, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It previously said it had removed the images in question swiftly, and that it was “committed to protecting the rights of IP rights holders”.
($1 = 9.4155 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, Greta Rosén Fondahn, Helen Reid, editing by Terje Solsvik and Elaine Hardcastle)
