A federal judge on Tuesday sided with San Francisco over Oakland in a legal dispute over a name change to Oakland’s airport.
The Port of Oakland earlier this year approved changing the city’s airport name to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport, prompting San Francisco’s city attorney in September to ask for a preliminary injunction to halt the name change, saying it infringed on their trademark for San Francisco International Airport and confused travelers.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson on Tuesday sided with San Francisco, saying that it is likely to prevail in the pending court case on the claim that the name change “falsely implies affiliation, connection and association” between the two airports, which go by the three-letter codes of SFO and OAK.
“Because in the United States the name of a city is normally in the name of an airport only if the city owns or partially owns that airport, the new name for the Oakland airport strongly implies affiliation with San Francisco and the San Francisco International Airport,” Hixson wrote.
The Port of Oakland, which oversees the city’s airport, in a statement that they “are continuing to review the recent ruling and considering all available options.”
The port said, “OAK is not associated with SFO, of course, but is rather a convenient and centrally located option for travelers throughout the Bay Area.”
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said in a statement that city officials had worked with Oakland on alternative name changes for the airport but were rebuffed.
“We had no choice but to ask the court to step in and protect our trademark,” Chiu said. “San Francisco has invested millions in making San Francisco International Airport the world class airport it is today. We have built an incredible brand, and we are happy the court agreed that brand should be legally protected from trademark infringement.”
The judge’s order blocks the use of San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport as a name in advertising, marketing or other services related to the airport until the pending trial on the lawsuit between the two cities is resolved.
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