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Nintendo Seeks To Trademarks "It's On Like Donkey Kong"
eldavojohn writes "Nintendo has requested a trademark on the phrase 'It's on like Donkey Kong.' The phrase has been used in everything from rap to television in modern culture. From the article: 'The makers of the classic video-game franchise have filed a request with the US Patent and Trademark office to trademark the pop-culture phrase, "It's on like Donkey Kong." Nintendo claims that the catchphrase "is an old, popular Nintendo phrase that has a number of possible interpretations depending on how it's used."'"
Donald Trump tried to patent "you're fired," so there's precedent for trying. He failed though (luckily) and I have to assume Nintendo will fail too. Also, I'd keep using it and not paying them royalties so it would really only affect print usage, and I doubt it's a common phrase in the Times.
TFA mentions that there is a new game being released on 11/21, Donkey Kong Country Returns.
On the 15 of August 1994, William R. Della Croce, Jr. filed for the trademark Linux, and then demanded royalties from Linux distributors.
In 1996, Torvalds and some affected organizations sued him to have the trademark assigned to Torvalds, and in 1997 the case was settled.
There is precedent for trademarking a name after it's use and using it to extort^h^h^h^h^h^h require licensing fees.
If "On like Donkey Kong" was a phrase used to market a game that consumers though was the Nintendo property, there might be a case here. That is the only test that is used to determine whether a phrase or symbol infringes a trademark.
Corporations who frivolously try to grab intellectual "property" like this should have to pay the government fees for using up taxpayer funded resources.
It is;
From TFA, it's the phrase they're using to promote the newest incarnation of Donkey Kong Country for the Wii, which releases 11/21.
Barbara Streisand files for trademark over the use of "Streisand Effect"
I'm pretty sure, if she ever tried that, that Robert Smith and Syndey Poitier would beat her in a match of mecha-ro-sham-bo
$$$
Can't Ice Cube claim prior art with his 1992 song, "Now I Gotta Wet'cha?" The opening lyric is "It's on like Donkey Kong." I'm sure Cube would be willing to license his copyrighted lyrics to Nintendo, if they just asked.
Let's try to set this straight: it was Universal that sued Nintendo with the "King Kong" claim. Nintendo won because Universal didn't hold the copyight on the "King Kong" story. Universal was guilty of a string of SCO-like stupidities in this case, most significantly that they'd THEMSELVES already proven seven years earlier than the plot for "King Kong" was in the public domain.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.