Image: Pix ArtsNintendos been involved in its fair share of legal battles over the years, but we have a feeling it might be thinking twice before taking on publisher Pix Arts over the recent release of Monkey Kong In New-York on the Nintendo Switch.Granted, Nintendo can do whatever it likes, and if it thinks theres even the slightest chance that it might win a legal case, then chances are it will send its ninjas to battle at the earliest opportunity. Whats interesting about this particular game, however, is that it reminds us of a previous legal battle fought between Nintendo and Universal back in 1983.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube789kWatch on YouTube Ysee, back in't day, Universal wound up suing Nintendo over the latters new Donkey Kong game, alleging that it was a copyright infringement upon the characters and plot of King Kong. After a 7-day trial, the late judge Robert W. Sweet determined that Universal had no trademark in King Kong, deeming that the company itself had proven the IP to be in the public domain during a previous court case against RKO General. Furthermore, he said its unlikely that consumers would genuinely mix up King Kong and Donkey Kong.Nintendos defense lawyer at the time, the late John Kirby, was gifted a $30,000 sailboat christened Donkey Kong for his work during the case. As many of you may already know, his surname was also used as inspiration for the long-running platforming franchise Kirby.Now, if Nintendo even notices Monkey Kong in New-York on the Switch eShop (because lets face it, its a small drop in a big ocean given the amount of bilge being uploaded these days), it may have to think long and hard about whether it wants to pursue legal action against this particular game given the hassle it had to go through back in 83.The big difference here, of course, is that Nintendo does own the trademark to Donkey Kong obviously and the similarities between Donkey Kong and Monkey Kong are arguably much closer than that of King Kong. In addition, the games logo is somewhat similar to that of Donkey Kongs, but were not sure anybody would look at the generic character model for the titular character and mistake it for Nintendos famous, lovable ape.Images: Pix Arts, NintendoChances are that if Nintendo wants Monkey Kong in New-York removed from the eShop, it can probably do so with little fuss, and we sincerely doubt a case such as this would make it all the way to court. Still, its interesting to look at the similarities to the 83 case, right? 3DS emulator Citra to also shut downOn at least fifty occasions in the last two years"What do you make of this new 'Monkey Kong' game? Do you think it will remain on the eShop, or are its days numbered? Let us know your thoughts with a comment down below.Related GamesSee AlsoShare:00 Nintendo Lifes resident horror fanatic, when hes not knee-deep in Resident Evil and Silent Hill lore, Ollie likes to dive into a good horror book while nursing a lovely cup of tea. He also enjoys long walks and listens to everything from TOOL to Chuck Berry. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related Articles'Hyperdimension Neptunia' & 'Death End' Switch Releases Scrapped For "Not Complying With Nintendo Guidelines"Death end re;Quest: Code Z still on for PS5/4, though'Switch 2' Is Projected To Be The "Clear Winner" In The Next Console GenerationWhile either Sony or Microsoft will "struggle mightily"Toby Fox Shares Another Development Update On Deltarune Chapter 3, 4 & 5"Progress has still been steady"