Nintendo Files Trademark for "It's on like Donkey Kong" in Promotion of New Wii Game

To promote its upcoming November 21 release of Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii, Nintendo has filed a trademark for the phrase "It's on like Donkey Kong" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

It's on like Cranky Kong now.

Nintendo claims that it "is an old, popular Nintendo phrase that has a number of possible interpretations depending on how it's used," though I struggle to think of a single time I've heard Nintendo use it for anything.

I have heard it used in plenty of other places, however. Giant Bomb points out that rapper Ice Cube used the phrase in his 1992 song Now I Gotta Wet'Cha.

So what do you think? Should Nintendo be granted the trademark to this phrase simply because it features one of its trademarked characters, despite (to my knowledge) never actually using the phrase until today?