Mario coins.jpg
Image: Kotaku

It's one of gaming's most iconic sounds, immediately recognisable to millions around the world. When Mario picks up a coin or bashes one out of a block there's a classic two-note jingle. You know the one.

It's used very widely, but not just by Nintendo. It appears in pop culture in videos, podcasts and music, including our own opening clip for YouTube videos, and also in plenty of apps and online games that shouldn't really exist. Nintendo will have been aware of this for some time, and seems to have had enough of its sound being used so widely.

A trademark application has been filed in Japan, a screengrab of which you can see below. If it's accepted and Nintendo tries to trademark the sound globally it'll lead to some interesting scenarios should the company try to takedown or monetise uses of it.

Mario coins.png

It'll be intriguing to see how this pans out. Nintendo has a right to pursue trademarks, and arguably this isn't on the same level of skullduggery as Sony's failed attempt to trademark the "Let's Play" phrase, but it'd be a shame if Nintendo pursues fans and creators paying homage to Mario and the company's properties. As always with these matters it's a debate with plenty of grey areas.

Let us know what you think of this in the comments™.

With thanks to Benson for the heads up.

[source j-platpat.inpit.go.jp, via nintendoeverything.com, twitter.com]