Turner Little has learned that Jeremy Clarkson has trademarked a new name for his new Amazon show in a clear bid to protect his Intellectual Property.
Trademark issues
Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond rose to fame as the hosts of the extremely popular BBC show Top Gear. However, Clarkson was fired from the show earlier this year, and May and Hammond quit soon after. The three have now signed a £160 million deal to front a new show for online TV service Amazon.
Top Gear was an incredibly lucrative project. A Guardian article reported in March 2015 that Top Gear generated £50 million a year for the BBC. Clarkson, May and Hammond couldn’t use the name, as it was the IP of their former employers. This presented them with the unenviable challenge of dreaming up a new name that would prove every bit as iconic and lucrative as Top Gear.
Protecting the brand
The Telegraph recently reported that Clarkson, May and Hammond have now announced the new name for their show; the somewhat cheeky’ Gear Knobs. The publication wrote that ‘Gear Knobs,’ along with ‘Gear Nobs’ and ‘Speedbird,’ was trademarked by Clarkson’s law firm two weeks before Amazon announced the deal to the world.
Gear Knobs’ trademark document states that the term can be used for television shows and all manner of merchandise relating to driving and cars. Interestingly Clarkson and co. seem to have used similar tactics to Apple’s rumoured trademark of “tvOS,” to ensure the deal stayed under wraps until the Amazon announcement. They trademarked ‘Gear Knobs’ with Newincoo 1361 Limited; a newly formed company.
The presenters used a similar tactic to take charge of Top Gear’s profitable merchandising revenue, doing so by setting up a company called Bedder 6 Ltd. The strategy proved wildly successful; Clarkson, May and Hammond sold it back to the BBC in a controversial deal that netted them millions in profit.
Turner Little
By forming a company to trademark the name of their new show, Clarkson, May and Hammond have ensured its success. We noted in a previous blog post that you must act to protect your IP if you want to develop a profitable brand for your business. As company formation specialists, Turner Little can provide you with the support you need to protect your company’s IP.
Turner Little was founded in 1998 and it has since become a well-established UK based professional Company Registration Agents, Registered Bank Intermediaries and Business Consultants, as well as Trust providers.
