FKA Twigs (Tahliah Barnett) has defeated trademark infringement claims filed by indie band The Twigs, with U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruling on August 18 that the sisters forfeited their right to sue due to unreasonable delay.
The Twigs—twin sisters Laura Good and Linda Good—first sued FKA Twigs in 2014 over a trademark they registered in 1996, but dropped that lawsuit after losing an initial injunction request. They filed new infringement claims in May 2026, more than a decade later.
Judge Rakoff applied the doctrine of laches, which bars legal action delayed unreasonably. He wrote that the sisters “were aware of Barnett’s allegedly infringing activity as early as 2013” and, despite taking no action for years, “let their claims lie fallow for at least a decade.”
The Twigs argued the case qualified for an exception to laches for intentional infringement, but Judge Rakoff disagreed, finding no evidence that Barnett intended to cause confusion between the two names.
The ruling prevents The Twigs from suing over the name “The Twigs,” but a separate dispute remains. FKA Twigs has pending claims seeking to stop The Twigs from interfering with her trademark application for “FKA Twigs.” Judge Rakoff ordered discovery before ruling on that issue.
Source: Billboard
