Cartoon stick figure pointing towards a chalkboard with “Ski-Doo” written in large chalk letters — representing a blog post about snowmobiles and the Ski-Doo word mark trademark registration.

Trademark: Ski-Doo

First Used: December 1959

First Registered: August 1972

Current Owner: Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. [1]

Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark

Primarily Associated With: snowmobiles and parts therefor [2]

Generic Phrase: snowmobiles, as in SKI-DOO® brand snowmobiles

Also A Trademark For: automotive lubricants and fuels, protective snowmobiling gear, accessories for snowmobiles, bags, and clothing [3]; and dealerships, distributorships, and online-retail stores featuring snowmobiles [4]

Brief (and likely incomplete) History [5]:

Canadian Joseph Bombardier is recognized as the inventor of snowmobile in the early 1920s. Early snowmobiles resembled a truck with skis and track propulsion, primary intended for traversing the Canadian prairie. In the 1950s, improvements in smaller and lighter internal combustion engines led Bombardier to invent the first commercial successful snowmobile: the Ski-Doo® brand snowmobile.

Originally intended to be called the "Ski-Dog" as a motorized alternative to dog sleds, a typographical error in a brochure led to the name "Ski-Doo" — a mistake that stuck and ultimately became iconic. The Ski-Doo snowmobile quickly gained popularity in snow-covered regions, revolutionizing winter travel and recreation. Its lightweight design and ability to navigate deep snow made it ideal for both work and leisure, leading to a boom in the snowmobile industry throughout the 1960s and beyond.

Over the decades, the Ski-Doo brand has become synonymous with snowmobiling and is widely credited with shaping the modern powersports industry, including personal watercrafts (like those offered by Bombardier under the Sea-Doo® brand). In fact, the brand has become so famous that the Ski-Doo Yellow color is a registered trademark!

[1] Ski-Doo, Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), https://ski-doo.brp.com/us/en/.

[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 939,563, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=72314515&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[3] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,676,489, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78559907&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[4] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,673,043, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78559953&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[5] Key Moments In Our Adventure, BRP, available at https://www.brp.com/en/our-company/about-us.html; Ski-Dog Snowmobile, CANADA’S HISTORY, posted February 16, 2023, and available at https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/transportation/ski-dog-snowmobile; Ski-Doo Company History: The Original Snowmobile, HAYWARD POWER SPORTS, posted December 31, 2020, and available at https://www.haywardpowersports.com/blog/ski-doo-company-history.