Author: Nathanael Young News that the Sugababes’ founder member Mutya Buena has applied for a trademark in the word ‘Sugababes’ has already provoked considerable discussion. When their last original member left in 2009, the Sugababes reopened discussion of a paradox as old as philosophy: whether something could survive the replacement of all its component parts.  But whatever the importance of the Sugababes’ band, it is now the Sugababes’ brand - the cornerstone of a multi-million pound business - that is at stake. The legal position between the parties remains to be seen; Buena clearly considers herself entitled to the mark as a founder member, but the suggestion from the current trio seems to be that Island Records have the rights in the name, although they have no trademark. This is not the first time different band members have struggled for control of a brand. In 2003 a case involving the heavy metal group Saxon went to the Court of Appeal, where it was held that, in the absence of a partnership agreement specifying otherwise, members of a band were members of a partnership at will, which was dissolved when they split up. The name and the goodwill built up under it belonged to the partnership jointly, and not to any one individual or individuals, whether or not they claimed to be surviving members. In that case the trademark application was refused, but it was one of the original members that objected to it. The legal issues in this case remain to be seen, but the practical issues are familiar to all intellectual property lawyers. Names - whether names of companies, names of bands or names of products -  can become commercially important overnight. It is crucial that the ownership and registration of the intellectual property rights in names is given thought at the earliest possible stage. Otherwise issues can arise, often years after the name first comes to prominence. It is unlikely that we have seen the last of the Sugababes trademark application, and still more unlikely we have seen the last case of this type.

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Bands’ Brands - Music and the Law

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