| SJReiter said: I don't get it. Why wouldn't Nintendo already own the trademark to the name Diddy Kong? He's their IP. |
You're confusing concepts.
A trademark is a name or logo, not a character. They didn't trademark the character, Diddy Kong. They trademarked the name, "Diddy Kong". This is usually done when a game or other product using that name is going to be released.
That being said, they've had Diddy Kong trademarked in Europe since 1995, just as in the US, because of Diddy's Kong Quest. But there have been some more recent trademarks, and Diddy Kong has gotten a new trademark, hence the speculation.
Curiously, some other Nintendo-related trademarks I found that have been registered in the last few months include "Hyrule" (not Hyrule Warriors, which they've had since middle of 2014), "Donkey Kong", "The Legend of Zelda", "Mario Bros.", "Polarium", "Virtual Boy", "QUDY", and "Qudii".
