Nintendo requests 'It's on like Donkey Kong' trademark

Nintendo has filed a trademark application for "It's on like Donkey Kong" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The company said the request was made "in honor of the upcoming Nov. 21 launch" of Donkey Kong Country Returns -- in other words, Nintendo is about to put a lock on the phrase's commercial use: "On Nov. 21, It's on like Donkey Kong™!"

Of course, Nintendo still seems to encourage non-commercial uses of the exclamation, clumsily describing it as "an old, popular Nintendo phrase that has a number of possible interpretations depending on how it's used." For example, listen how the phrase completely changes when you add a "beeyotch" to the end of it.

[Image credit: Vinteeage.com)