San Francisco Files Lawsuit Over Name Change Of Airport

Southwest airplane at Oakland International Airport.

You don’t need to be a literary scholar and adept at Shakespearean foreshadowing to see that this was coming.

City of San Francisco attorney David Chiu has filed a lawsuit against the city of Oakland for its proposed name change to its airport.

The airport in Oakland is set to be re-named “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport,” which attorneys say is a “false designation of origin.”

The lawsuit states, “The Metropolitan Oakland International Airport seeks to increase passengers and profits by rushing to unlawfully incorporate San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO) trademarked name into its own. Oakland Airport’s actions ignore SFO’s longstanding protected mark, brand, and identity, violate federal and state intellectual property law, and disregard the legal infringement and consumer confusion its actions create. Oakland Airport’s hasty and unnecessary efforts and refusal to engage in discussions of alternative names have left the City and County of San Francisco no choice but to bring this complaint against Defendant City of Oakland, acting by and through its Board of Port Commissioners for federal trademark infringement and false designation of origin and unfair competition.”

That’s a mouthful, The lawsuit was filed on Thursday and already Port of Oakland attorney Mary Richardson said travelers know the Bay Area well enough to realize that “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport” is located in Oakland.

“SFO cannot lay claim to the geographically-descriptive term ‘San Francisco,’ let alone claim exclusive rights to the San Francisco Bay,” she said. “The Port trusts that travelers understand that the San Francisco Bay — like virtually every other major metropolitan area throughout the world — can contain more than one airport. The Port will take all reasonable measures to ensure clarity for travelers with respect to OAK’s geographic location and distinctiveness.”

It appears that the city of Oakland is trying to lure more visitors by incorporating the name change. The lawsuit demands a jury trial. If that is granted, it will take a while to empanel a jury to decide the case.

Despite the potential for confusion, at least one airline has begun using the new name.

“This new name will cause confusion and chaos for travelers, which will damage the travel industry for the entire region,” Chiu said.

The lawsuit states, “Defendant’s proposal to include ‘San Francisco’ at the front of its new name, closely followed by the words ‘International Airport’ is problematic, as it will almost certainly cause confusion among consumers and the public generally. Travelers will very likely be confused and book tickets to the unintended airport.”

It is not known what other name changes were proposed.