Of all the ColecoVision Donkey Kong label variations I know, it would appear most of the U.S.-made carts do not have the TM (trademark) symbol at all next to the ColecoVision logo on the cartridge spine. All of the Taiwanese-made carts do, which place the TM symbol at the bottom right of the CV logo on the cartridge spine instead of at the top right of it.
Another variation I noticed is that some Taiwanese-made DK carts also do not have yellow stars, but white stars for the "O"s in the DK logo.
As to pinpointing when each of these label variations were made, this will be a tough one without looking at the ROM chips inside.
So here's a round-up of all the known label variations:
"Made and printed in Taiwan" version:
1. No yellow stars for the "O"s in the DK logo - it's also possible the yellows may be faded.
Picture 1:
Picture 2:
2. Yellow stars for the "O"s in the DK logo.
Picture:
3. On the label spine, the ColecoVision logo has a TM symbol at bottom right. On the main label view (when cart is inserted into the console) the CV logo (with PRESENTS below) also has the TM symbol at bottom right. Additionally, the DK logo, which places its TM symbol at top right, has the "by Nintendo" byline (also with a TM symbol at top right) on both the spine and main label view
Picture:
"Printed in U.S.A." version:
1. Yellow stars for the "O"s in the DK logo.
Picture: (see attached thumbnail below)
2. On the label spine, the ColecoVision logo has the TM symbol at top right. Ditto for the CV logo (with PRESENTS below) on the main label view. Additionally, unlike the Taiwanese-made copies, the DK logo is missing the "by Nintendo" byline from the label spine (the TM symbol is still there), but it is intact on the main label view (along with the TM symbol on the Nintendo byline).
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3. Most copies have no TM symbol for the CV logo on label spine. The Nintendo byline is again missing in the DK logo on the spine.
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4. Even the later "For COLECOVISION & ADAM" label version is missing the Nintendo byline (which on the main label view now has a registered trademark symbol, or ®) from the DK logo on the spine. The ColecoVision logo itself also now has the ® symbol next to it, both on main label view and spine (with ADAM having the TM symbol next to it). Once again, Nintendo's byline is missing from the DK logo on the spine.
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These label variations might also have to do with whether they were more common in Canada than the U.S.
~Ben