FKA Twigs Faces Countersuit in Escalating Trademark Battle Over Stage Name
A trademark dispute over the name “Twigs” has escalated into a direct legal fight, with the indie duo known as the Twigs now countersuing FKA Twigs and asking a court to block the Grammy-nominated artist from using the stage name she has performed under for more than a decade.
The countersuit, filed this week by twin sisters Laura Good and Linda Good, marks the latest turn in a dispute that began publicly in March, when FKA Twigs, born Tahliah Barnett, sued the duo preemptively, accusing them of attempting to disrupt her long-established use of the name through aggressive trademark claims and legal threats.
At the center of the conflict is a question trademark law routinely wrestles with: who has the stronger claim when similar names coexist in overlapping industries, particularly when one act has significantly greater global visibility.
Barnett’s original complaint argued that the sisters had long known about her use of FKA Twigs, which dates back to 2013, and waited years before escalating their objections. According to that filing, Barnett attempted to resolve the matter privately by proposing a coexistence agreement rather than a purchase of the name itself. The complaint says she offered the duo $15,000 in an effort to formalize both parties’ continued use of their respective names without litigation.
The sisters allegedly rejected that proposal outright.
Barnett’s lawsuit further claimed that in 2024, the duo began sending cease-and-desist letters threatening legal action, including efforts to prevent her from using the FKA Twigs name commercially. According to her filing, the sisters also allegedly sought a seven-figure payment to resolve the dispute.
Her legal team framed the move as an attempt to leverage trademark claims against an internationally established artist for financial gain, arguing that any objection should have been raised years earlier rather than after her name had become commercially valuable.
Now the other side is making its own case.
In the countersuit, filed May 11 and first reported by Billboard, Laura and Linda Good accuse Barnett of trademark infringement and unfair competition, arguing that the issue is not simply her use of “FKA Twigs,” but what they describe as a deliberate effort to strengthen public association with the standalone word “Twigs.”
According to the filing, the dispute intensified after Barnett’s 2019 album Magdalene, when the sisters claim she increasingly dropped the “FKA” prefix in certain appearances and promotional contexts.
Their legal argument appears to rest on the idea that Barnett used her celebrity status to overwhelm their market presence and blur the public distinction between the two acts.
The complaint alleges that she “intentionally used her celebrity and resulting power with the media” to increase the association between herself and the name “Twigs,” while diminishing the goodwill the duo had built under their own name in similar musical markets.
The sisters are now seeking an injunction that would prevent Barnett from using “FKA Twigs” entirely, along with unspecified monetary damages.
Trademark disputes involving coexistence are not unusual in entertainment, but efforts to fully strip an internationally recognized artist of a long-standing stage name are considerably more aggressive, particularly when that name has become central to a public identity, catalog branding, touring, and commercial licensing.
Since emerging in the early 2010s, FKA Twigs has built an internationally recognized artistic identity under that name, releasing critically acclaimed albums including LP1, Magdalene, and Caprisongs, while becoming known for music, fashion collaborations, acting, and performance art.
Trademark law typically weighs several factors in these disputes, including priority of use, market overlap, consumer confusion, and whether a claimant delayed enforcement long enough to weaken their case.
If Barnett can successfully argue that the duo knowingly allowed her to build a global brand for years before objecting, the doctrine of acquiescence or laches could become relevant. The sisters, meanwhile, appear to be arguing that the nature of the infringement evolved over time, particularly when “FKA” allegedly began disappearing from branding.
Neither Barnett’s representatives nor the attorneys for Laura and Linda Good have publicly commented beyond the filings.
