FKA Twigs has launched a lawsuit against an indie band called The Twigs after it repeatedly threatened to sue her over their similar names, accusing the duo of “weaponizing” trademark law to demand a “seven-figure payout.”
In court papers filed Friday (March 20), the British singer born Tahliah Barnett says twin sisters Laura Good and Linda Good have recently sent her cease-and-desist letters threatening to seek a court injunction “preventing Barnett from using her stage name” unless they’re paid out.
But The Twigs have obviously known about FKA’s name for more than a decade, her lawyers say, and shouldn’t be allowed to now hold her name hostage.
“Defendants’ attempts to weaponize these barred and unmeritorious trademark claims … in order to disrupt Barnett’s over-a-decade-long, uninterrupted use of the FKA Twigs mark for defendants’ own gain … are improper and must cease,” her lawyers write.
The new case, which comes days after FKA Twigs launched her global Body High Tour, is the latest in a long-simmering dispute. The Goods, who have used the name since the 1990s, sued the singer for trademark infringement back in 2014, but dropped the case after a judge refused to grant the band a restraining order that would have forced FKA to stop using the name.
In her new court filings, attorneys for FKA Twigs say that after that “patently frivolous” earlier case was withdrawn, The Twigs “simply disappeared” for years — that is, until they started sending her cease-and-desist letters “out of nowhere” in May 2024.
“For approximately 10 years thereafter, defendants neither contacted Barnett nor challenged her use of FKA Twigs, fully acquiescing to such use,” her lawyers write. “In the face of defendants’ silence during those 10 years, Barnett invested extraordinary time, effort and resources building a successful career and brand under the FKA Twigs name.”
In addition to the alleged unfairness of the the long delay, FKA Twigs says the band’s accusations suffer from an even more basic flaw: That she isn’t infringing their trademark in the first place.
To prove a trademark violation, an accuser must show that consumers are likely going to confuse two similar brand names. But attorneys for FKA Twigs say its “inconceivable” that any listeners would confuse an indie band that has “limited recognition” with a “globally recognized music artist.”
“In the more than a decade that Barnett and Defendants have co-existed, there is not a shred of credible evidence of actual confusion between their respective offerings,” FKA’s lawyers write. “That is unsurprising. The parties operate in entirely different commercial ecosystems.”
In making that argument, FKA’s lawyers took a subtle shot at her accusers. After highlighting that the star has currently has 3.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify and more than 300 million views on YouTube, they then listed off the band’s numbers: “[The Twigs] have 67 subscribers and 19,332 views on YouTube, 705 followers on Instagram, and 25 monthly listeners on Spotify.”
Reps for both sides did not immediately return requests for comment.
