Apple has filed for a new trademark in Europe for "On the Level" which could be for a future Apple TV+ segment as the International Class it was filed under first describes "Ongoing television documentary series featuring entertainment, films and biographical documentary series." Yet in the bigger picture, the International Class covers a wide range of entertainment from sports, to podcasts, to live concerts, to augmented reality and more. Apple used the legal services of Locke Lord in Belgium to make the filing at the European Union Intellectual Property Office.

Apple Files for "On the Level" Trademark in Europe

Apple filed their trademark under International Class 041 which covers the following:

"Ongoing television documentary series featuring biographies; entertainment services, namely providing radio, television, films, and podcasts in the fields of art and biographical documentary series; production and distribution of ongoing television documentary series; entertainment services in the nature of ongoing documentary series; providing on-line information in the fields of art, augmented reality, and biographies; production and distribution of videos in the field of entertainment news, reviews, interviews and commentary; providing on-line entertainment news and entertainment information in the fields of virtual reality and video game development; production of documentary series; providing on-line interviews with video game developers, creators, and other noteworthy persons in the field of video game development for entertainment purposes; educational services; development, production, distribution, and presentation of radio programs, television programs, motion pictures, multimedia entertainment content, and sound recordings; providing ongoing television, radio, audio, video, podcast, and webcast programs; providing entertainment, sports, music, informational, news, and current events programming by means of telecommunications networks, computer networks, the Internet, satellite, radio, wireless communications networks, television, and cable television; providing non-downloadable entertainment, sports, animation, music, informational, news, reality, and current events programming; providing websites and computer applications featuring entertainment, sports, music, informational, news, current events, and arts and culture programming; entertainment information; news reporting; publication and presentation of reviews, surveys, and ratings, and providing interactive websites and computer applications for the posting and sharing of reviews, survey, and ratings relating to educational programs, entertainment, motion pictures, theatre, arts and cultural events, concerts, live performances, competitions, fairs, festivals, exhibitions, expositions, and sporting events."

Apple's Priority trademark filing was made in Jamaica under number 82148 filed in December 2020. It was applied for in Europe yesterday, June 03, 2021. 

The trademark is only for the words "On the Level."

At present there is an Apple Podcast named "On the Level" by Bo Buchanan out of Arizona. The show describes itself this way in-part: "On the Level is a set of interviews done by Bo Buchanan, Arizona Lodge No. 2 in Phoenix, Arizona. Everyone interviewed is a mason or a member of the masonic family. While most of the interviews are of masons within various lodges in the Grand Lodge of Arizona."

Whether Apple will have a legal issue with trying to trademark 'On the Level' in the U.S. due to the Podcast name noted above is unknown at this time. However, Apple's International Class relating to Entertainment clearly distinguishes it from the nature of the Freemason podcast.

There are two other companies that have registered this trademark in the U.S. The first is a company registered in China by the name of Guangzhou Kezhi Trade Co, and the second is a company in Mississippi by the name of Forestry Suppliers, Inc. Neither have the trademark listed under International Class 041.