Recently published at Europe's Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM), the application signals an attempt by the singer to wrest control of the moniker from the band's latest line-up, which features no founding members.
Buena, who left the group in 2005, is supported in her action by fellow founders Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy – both named in the application – indicating that the original line-up intends to reform and trade under the Sugababes banner. Media attention has focused on Buena's role in launching the trademark bid, with her law firm Kilburn & Strode describing her as the 'sole applicant'.
Details filed with OHIM support Kilburn & Strode's claim: Buena, Donaghy and Buchanan's addresses are all listed in the trademark application as c/o Paul Stacey Management Ltd – a London-based agency that represents Buena as a solo artist. The inclusion of Donaghy and Buchanan confirms Buena's vision of the group that she plans to trade with.
During her time in the Sugababes, Buena won acclaim as the band's leading songwriter, contributing material alongside several outside writers to hits such as 'Overload' (2000), 'Round Round' (2002) and 'Push the Button' (2005). The OHIM paperwork indicates that Stacey's firm has been earmarked as the potential stable for a reformed original group, with Buena acting as the lynchpin.
Management played a key role in Sugababes' beginnings, with DJ Rob Tom assembling Buena, Donaghy and Buchanan in 2000 after talent spotting them. Tom went on to manage the group, which quickly earned the 'manufactured band' tag based on its origins. Once the act was established as a hit-making force, its frequent line-up changes led several publications, including the Guardian, to dub Sugababes a record-company 'franchise'. With the original trio phased out, the official group now consists of Jade Ewen, Heidi Range and Amelle Berrabah.
The nascent tug of war over the Sugababes trademark is not without precedent. In 1973, erstwhile Fleetwood Mac manager Clifford Davis hastily assembled a parallel version of the band to undertake a tour without informing the established members. Once the move came to light, the original Fleetwood Mac sued Davis, who had claimed ownership of the name. Although the original band managed to put the impostors out of action, the lawsuit consumed them for a year.
More recently, in 2005, Beach Boys member Mike Love sued departed founder and leading light Brian Wilson for 'misappropriating' the band's trademark while promoting his solo album Smile. Wilson had started to write the album in 1966 as a proposed follow-up to the classic Beach Boys record Pet Sounds, but the project stalled multiple times as Wilson suffered health problems. Promotional activities for the album, which finally emerged in 2004, referred to its origins, but it was only ever sold as a solo release. When Love's case went to court in 2006, it was quickly thrown out.
Buena's burgeoning Sugababes project is seeking EU trademark registration for an array of product classes set out in the Nice Agreement. These include sound, video and data recordings; viral videos; printed materials; production, distribution and publishing of music; fan clubs and live concerts.
However, Heidi Range – who replaced Donaghy in 2001 – insists that the name is owned by Sugababes' record label, Island. Speaking to the BBC on 3 March, she argued that the label's control of the band's IP ensures that the mark only applies to the official line-up. 'There [are] no conversations about who owns the name,' she said. 'I signed to [Island parent company] Universal Records eight-and-a-half years ago with Mutya and Keisha, so we've still got the name.'
