Nintendo has filed a new trademark application for the Mario & Luigi series

Mario & Luigi may return.

As LetsGoDigital discovered, Nintendo of the United States has filed a new trademark application for Mario & Luigi in South America.

According to the description of the application, the Mario & Luigi trademark will be associated with "computer game cartridges; game memory cards; computer game software; electronic game memory cards; interactive entertainment software, playable video games; mobile phone cases.

Of course, Nintendo may just try to strictly control its IP. But the timing of things is interesting. Mario & Luigi's original developer, AlphaDream, filed for bankruptcy late last year due to poor sales of its 3DS version of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey.

The RPG series was developed by AlphaDream for handheld platforms since 2003. However, with the introduction of a new trademark, Nintendo seems unable to use the franchise at all.