Rihanna prevails in Topshop T-Shirt row

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Rihanna prevails in Topshop T-Shirt row

A UK court has ruled that clothing chain Topshop was guilty of passing off after it sold a T-Shirt emblazoned with an unauthorised image of singer Rihanna

The BBC reports that Mr Justice Birss made it clear in his ruling that there was no such thing as a general right by a famous person to control the reproduction of their image.

"The mere sale by a trader of a T-shirt bearing an image of a famous person is not an act of passing off,” he said.

But he ruled that in this case, Topshop’s sale of the T-Shirt, complete with a photo of the singer taken without her permission and originally marketed as the "Rihanna Tank", amounted to passing off.



more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Public figures are turning to trademark protection to combat the threat of AI deepfakes and are monetising their brand through licensing deals, a trend that law firms are keen to capitalise on
News of Avanci Video signing its first video licence and a win for patent innovators in Australia were also among the top talking points
Tom Melsheimer, part of a nine-partner team to join King & Spalding from Winston & Strawn, says the move reflects Texas’s appeal as a venue for high-stakes patent litigation
AI patents and dairy trademarks are at the centre of two judgments to be handed down next week
Jennifer Che explains how taking on the managing director role at her firm has offered a new perspective, and why Hong Kong is seeing a life sciences boom
AG Barr acquires drinks makers Fentimans and Frobishers, in deals worth more than £50m in total
Tarun Khurana at Khurana & Khurana says corporates must take the lead if patent filing activity is to truly translate into innovation
Michael Moore, head of legal at Glean AI, discusses how in-house IP teams can use AI while protecting enforceability
Counsel for SEP owners and implementers are keeping an eye on the case, which could help shape patent enforcement strategy for years to come
Jacob Schroeder explains how he and his team secured victory for Promptu in a long-running patent infringement battle with Comcast
Gift this article