used her image on T-shirts without permission.
The Russian Roulette singer accused the fashion chain of failing to
seek approval from her before going ahead with printing their stock.
At a hearing in London, Judge Mr Justice Birss ruled in the
25-year-old's favour, asserting that the British retailer was guilty
of "passing off".
Passing off is a common law tort which can be used to enforce
unregistered trademark rights.
The chart-topper had claimed that the "unendorsed" T-shirts could have
damaged her image if fans believed it was genuine merchandise.
However, the judge stressed the "mere sale" of a T-shirt bearing a
celebrity image did not necessarily equate to an act of passing off.
It was instead due to the fact that a "substantial number" of buyers
were likely to have been deceived into purchasing the product on
"false belief" that it had been authorised by the singer.
As a result, he said this was damaging to Rihanna's "goodwill" and
represented a loss of control over her reputation in the "fashion
sphere".
Topshop disputed the claim.
However, despite accusations from Rihanna, the retailer's lawyer
insisted her entourage had contacted Topshop up to 10 times to request
clothing for the starlet since the lawsuit was filed.
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