I don't believe Motown ever owned the name - although they may have tried to. Supremes was made up by a salaried Motown employee, so that's why Motown had a right to it. DMF weren't savvy enough to deal with it correctly with their first contract. IF The Tempts had to negotiate for the name - they had poor representation. I doubt that Otis signed away his royalties after seeing how much Flo lost.