Nintendo Trademarks "It's On Like Donkey Kong"

Folio

New member
Jun 11, 2010
851
0
0
Nintendo's friend: Hey, you are getting really popular with your catch phrases!
Nintendo: You think so?
NinFriend: Yeah, now everyone knows the name Donkey Kong! You know, one of your first games? Those were the days.
Nintendo: You know, now that everyone uses the phrase I know what I'm gotta do.
NinFriend: What?
Nintendo: BUY IT! Now no one can use that phrase without giving me money! AAAAHAHAHA!

NinFriend: You just lost a great underground commercial to an entire franchise...
 

SaturdayS

New member
Nov 8, 2010
93
0
0
Is there a source to this? Sounds like the crap I keep seeing in facebook statuses trying to get me to "click here" and then spam my meager friend list.
 

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
14,499
0
0
SaturdayS said:
Is there a source to this? Sounds like the crap I keep seeing in facebook statuses trying to get me to "click here" and then spam my meager friend list.
Press release from Nintendo, believe it or not.
 

pneuma08

Gaming Connoisseur
Sep 10, 2008
401
0
0
KEM10 said:
In short: DO IT NINTENDO! Rid us of this line forever by patenting it.
Trademark. You patent an idea (in the US, theoretically so you can implement it; in my other places to stop others from implementing it), you trademark a phrase or logo to distinguish it from other products. (And both of these are a separate idea from copyright.)

So yeah, Nintendo can certainly trademark the phrase but that puts no restrictions on how people can use it save for other video games using it to try to distinguish themselves in the videogame market. Like how on the back of the Disgaea box they say, "Strategy RPGs are about to get a kick in the ass!" - previous to the filing, assuming it goes through, they could have put "It's on like Donkey Kong" but now they can't.

It's actually more of a formality than anything, since the character of Donkey Kong is so widely known that a good argument can be put up that says that any use in the videogame market could be construed as trying to mislead the consumer. But I digress.
 

Flamezdudes

New member
Aug 27, 2009
3,696
0
0
What is it with Nintendo? Do they not care about the fans and that they like their games so much that its a catchphrase? They just want to copyright everything and get money, they don't care about the fans.
 

Sinspiration

New member
Mar 7, 2010
333
0
0
Wow.. There's so many things they could spend their money on and instead they decide to waste it on a single phrase. I don't know whether to applaud their "greater wisdom" or call this one of the dumbest things I've heard of today.
 

Gildedtongue

New member
Nov 9, 2007
189
0
0
On one hand, I can certainly see why Nintendo would want to do this. I mean, it is their character and intellectual property.

On the other hand, imagine the precedent this sets! Would be fun for Ben Croshaw to shell out two hundred fifty quid every time he says "Like God of War, but..."
 

EHKOS

Madness to my Methods
Feb 28, 2010
4,815
0
0
RatRace123 said:
I've never understood why people want to trademark phrases.
I like Nintendo and all, but trying to trademark a phrase puts them on the same level as Paris Hilton and Donald Trump.

Apple tried to trademark the word "pod"
 

Kouen

Yea, Furry. Deal With It!
Mar 23, 2010
1,652
0
0
Let em have it ive never heard that term in my whole life
 

Lightslei

New member
Feb 18, 2010
559
0
0
Redlin5 said:
JediMB said:
Can't recall ever hearing the phrase before.
Neither can I... Maybe this is an American thing?
Not in NYC at the least.

I don't think I've ever heard this phrase but I may of just been distracted by the crazies on the street :S.
 

SaintWaldo

Interzone Vagabond
Jun 10, 2008
923
0
0
They can certainly trademark it for the narrow purpose of marketing a video game or derivative works of DK. This would probably enable them to go after t-shirt sites using the phrase as stock, as well.

The problem is, I'm certain there is a lot of dilution in the form of prior art usage that could be introduced as reasons not to grant a mark on the whole phrase. Not that this always matters in IP decisions, but most humans who observe this stuff know that logic has no place in the halls of places like the USPTO.
 

mjc0961

YOU'RE a pie chart.
Nov 30, 2009
3,847
0
0
Please tell me that people don't actually say that.

http://xkcd.com/151/

See the alt-text for that? That's my thoughts on "It's on like Donkey Kong." Please, nobody ever say that.
 

JDKJ

New member
Oct 23, 2010
2,065
0
0
SaintWaldo said:
They can certainly trademark it for the narrow purpose of marketing a video game or derivative works of DK. This would probably enable them to go after t-shirt sites using the phrase as stock, as well.

The problem is, I'm certain there is a lot of dilution in the form of prior art usage that could be introduced as reasons not to grant a mark on the whole phrase. Not that this always matters in IP decisions, but most humans who observe this stuff know that logic has no place in the halls of places like the USPTO.
But for prior use to dilute, that use would have to be a use similar to the use for which Nintendo seeks a trademark. Which I imagine is an unlikely circumstance. But you are correct in asserting that there ain't no rocket scientists at the USPTO (which is kinda weird, given that an attorney needs to have a hard science undergraduate degree in order to be admitted to the Patent Bar and obtain employment at the USPTO).