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

Attain IP, developed by two UK patent lawyers, will meet ‘forensic’ needs of patent attorneys by showing a verifiable reasoning chain, according to its co-founders
The High Court of Australia has allowed a fashion designer to retain her registered ‘Katie Perry’ trademark for clothing
Sim & San secured the win for Dr. Reddy’s, which will allow the pharma company to manufacture and export semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic
Lucas Amodio joins our ‘Five minutes with’ series to discuss artificial intelligence systems and patent law
The Americas research cycle has commenced, so don't miss the opportunity to submit your work
Practitioners have welcomed extended funding of the specialist police unit until 2029, while the UKIPO says it is exploring increased scale
Abion says integration with Baylos marks an important step in the company’s international expansion plans
Via Licensing Alliance continues its China push as another smartphone manufacturer joins patent pool as licensee
Law firm mergers have the potential to reshape IP teams, and partners who were at the coalface of previous tie-ups say early coordination and flexibility can make the difference
Women are entering the IP profession, but still too few are being trusted with the clients, cases, and credit that may open the path to leadership
Gift this article