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Nintendo Seeks To Trademarks "It's On Like Donkey Kong"

Posted by samzenpus on from the language-pitfall dept.

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."'"

4 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Up next.... by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "I Nintendo'd that shit." -- Used to describe an act where you alienate people that previously liked you for a really, really stupid reason.

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  2. Nintendo by Zaphod+The+42nd · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Did Nintendo themselves ever actually use the phrase? I thought it was just a pop culture reference kinda thing, never a part of the actual franchise. >_>
    I call shenanigans.

    TFA says they're using it now to promote the new donkey kong country, but it seems like they're taking a phrase that the public created that is in the public domain and are trying to claim it as theirs.

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  3. Re:Will this pass muster? by 19061969 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They're applying for a trademark rather than a patent so prior use is a little different here. I'm sure someone with greater knowledge of US trademark law will enlighten us, but I seem to recall that it is possible to trademark something that's been used (e.g., "Linux" was trademarked by Linus Torvalds back in the 1990s after someone else was using it for their business and he wanted it to be a protected phrase - this is AFAIR so I could be wrong).

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  4. Identifying a Product by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

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