The former Top Gear trio has hit a wall in coming up with a name for their new motoring show on Amazon, as everything they have come up with until now, has already been trademarked.
“Gear Knobs” is a “no-no“, due to intellectual property laws, and so are “Prime Torque“, “Skid Mark” and “Auto Nation“, as Clarkson revealed in his SundayTimes column, quoted by TheHuffingtonPost.
“Every morning, I’d make a £7,000 (~$10,000) call to the lawyer with an idea, and every afternoon I’d get a £7,000 reply saying the name was already in use by someone in New Zealand or France or Ukraine.”
Moreover, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May found out that “The Stig“, “Cool Wall” and “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” have been trademarked by BBC and explaining that “Fifth Gear” “doesn’t belong to the BBC” was “no good“, added Jezza, who also said that “arguing with a lawyer costs more money than we had.”
Amazon’s new car show name will have to be approved by Clarkson, Hammond, their producer, Eeyore “and a billionaire in Seattle” and “it can’t even be a minor play on the words ‘Top’ or ‘Gear’“.
The three presenters and their crew have already started filming the first season of their new motoring show, which will air on Amazon Prime this fall. Rumor has it that they have a budget of £160 million ($231,229,000) for 36 episodes, so the wait should be worth it.