FKA twigs Used Her Fame To “Destroy” Indie Band’s Trademark, The Twigs Claim In Countersuit

FKA twigs presumably has the "FKA" in her name because the name "Twigs" was already taken. When Tahliah Barnett was just starting to use her stage name back in 2014, twin-sister alt-pop duo the Twigs filed a trademark claim against her. The Twigs, the duo of sisters Laura and Linda Good, dropped their lawsuit after losing an initial injunction request. Apparently, though, the Twigs have not stopped sending cease-and-desist letters to FKA twigs in the years since. As a result, twigs asked for a judge's declaration to end those cease-and-desist letters so that she can keep going with her own registered trademark. Now, the Twigs have hit FKA twigs with a countersuit, attempting to bar FKA twigs from performing under the name "FKA twigs."

As Billboard reports, the Twigs opposed FKA twigs' attempt to trademark her own name, sending a cease-and-desist letter in 2024. In her case against the twigs, FKA twigs claimed that the duo were trying to get a seven-figure settlement out of her over baseless claims. In the countersuit that they filed on Monday, the Good sisters argue that Tahliah Barnett dropped the "FKA" from her name in some public appearances and that she's used her levels of money and fame to "weaken, if not destroy" the Twigs' intellectual property rights.

Though she just announced her first lead movie role yesterday, FKA twigs is primarily known as a musician. But the Twigs claim that they're only suing her now because she was mostly focused on acting and dancing and also that she was based in the UK and didn't attempt to file her name as a trademark. They claim that they can no longer ignore her infringement of their own name.

In their lawsuit, the Twigs' lawyers write, "Barnett’s use of her greater fame, record label backing, resources, celebrity and market presence to overwhelm The Twigs’ goodwill and misappropriate it infringes counterclaim-plaintiffs’ trademark rights." They're seeking an injunction to prevent FKA twigs from using that stage name, and they're also asking for unspecified financial damages.

This obviously isn't the first time that similarly named artists have tangled with one another. A few days ago, we posted about how the defunct '90s trip-hop duo Lamb are trying to dispel any confusion with the ascendant electro-pop artist Lamb. It seems much less likely that anyone would confuse FKA twigs with the Twigs, but we're not lawyers. Also, Horsegirl and HorsegiirL seem to be cool with one another for now.

Last month, FKA twigs filed her own countersuit against her ex Shia LaBeouf, claiming that the actor tried to silence her with an illegal non-disclosure agreement.