Oh Polly

Oh Polly, the UK-based fast-fashion brand known for body-con dresses, was found liable by the UK High Court in 2021 for 'flagrant' infringement of its direct competitor's unregistered design rights. The court's language was striking — it found Oh Polly had deliberately copied House of CB designs and attempted to fabricate a design development process to disguise the copying. The damages award was more than double the company's gross profit from the infringing items.

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▸ Case #1 — High Court Design Infringement / Flagrant Copying (2021) In Original Beauty Technology v. G4K Fashion Ltd (Oh Polly) [2021] EWHC 294 (Ch), the UK High Court found Oh Polly had infringed unregistered design rights in 7 of 20 garments reviewed. The judge awarded damages of £450,124.56 plus £300,000 in additional 'flagrant infringement' damages — a rarely invoked punitive measure — totaling over £750,000. The court found Oh Polly fabricated its internal design process to suggest independent creation when documents showed it had copied the claimant's garments.

▸ Case #2 — Influencer Contract Concerns / Commission-Only 'Scam' Reports (Ongoing) A 2023 TikTok video by @presleyeva documenting an Oh Polly influencer offer attracted widespread attention, with creators reporting the brand's ambassador program requires paid orders at a discount rather than gifting, generates no meaningful follower growth, and uses contracts with broad IP assignment clauses documented in a leaked Scribd contract filing.