After Oakland changed the name of its airport earlier this year, San Francisco's city attorney on Tuesday asked a federal judge to block the change as part of a trademark infringement lawsuit.
The motion for a preliminary injunction is asking a judge to order the city of Oakland and Port of Oakland to immediately stop using the new airport name of San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport, to declare that Oakland has infringed on the trademark for San Francisco International Airport, and to pay damages and court fees, according to the office of San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu.
Chiu's office says that since the name change in May, people have booked flights to SFO while intending to travel to the airport formerly known just as Oakland International Airport, while others have been directed to the wrong airport by digital assistants or ride-hailing services.
"We are already seeing traveler confusion around the use of Oakland's new name," Chiu said in a statement. "This was entirely predictable and preventable. We tried to reason with Oakland officials to avoid litigation and come up with alternative names that would work for all of us. Unfortunately, those efforts were not productive, and we have no choice but to ask the court to step in and protect our trademark."
San Francisco initially sued Oakland in April ahead of the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners' vote to change the name, and Oakland in May answered the complaint and filed a counterclaim, denying any trademark violation and saying the name change was intended to provide the accurate geographic location for the airport along San Francisco Bay.
Oakland denied that any confusion would occur and said it is not unusual for more than one airport to use the same geographic name, like Chicago and Dallas in the U.S. and London, Paris and Beijing internationally.
San Francisco and Oakland went into mediation over the name dispute late last month but Chiu's office said that was "not fruitful," prompting the request for a preliminary injunction.
Mary Richardson, attorney for the Port of Oakland, which oversees the airport, said in a statement that Tuesday's court filing by San Francisco "is a continuation of tactics rooted in publicity and anti-competitive bullying rather than on legal merits."
Here's Richardson's full statement:
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"The recent injunctive relief request by the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office is a continuation of tactics rooted in publicity and anti-competitive bullying rather than on legal merits. The Port of Oakland, which owns and operates OAK, filed a counterclaim against SFO and has not yet received a response. In fact, at SFO’s request, OAK had agreed to extensions for SFO to respond to OAK’s claims. Unfortunately, it appears that SFO sought to manufacture confusion under the cloak of legal filings and try to erase OAK from the map.
OAK sits on the San Francisco Bay. Earlier this year, the Board of Port Commissioners approved a name change to include this geographic reference in the airport’s name, while maintaining the OAK airport code, distinct branding, and the “I Fly OAK” logo. This is not and has never been about SFO or confusion. It’s about bringing awareness to travelers about the choices they have when traveling to and from the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.
It’s unfortunate that the SF City Attorney’s Office filed suit prematurely and continues to focus its efforts on litigation. The fact that SFO waited more than four months after the official name change to file this injunctive relief request shows a complete lack of urgency about any alleged harm. It is simply the latest example of the City Attorney attempting to sow confusion instead of responding to the merits of our Board’s action to rightly associate our Airport with the San Francisco Bay, which cannot be trademarked.
Let’s be clear – this lawsuit, which now includes a request aimed at immediately stopping OAK from rightly using its location on the San Francisco Bay in its name - is not an attempt by SFO to prevent confusion. Instead, it’s nothing more than an attempt to stifle competition and travel choices by Bay Area residents and position SFO as the only airport that serves the San Francisco Bay Area. It is not, and OAK will continue to aggressively fight for its position on the San Francisco Bay. Bay Area residents and visitors alike will have better flying choices when there is widespread industry and consumer recognition that OAK is located on the San Francisco Bay and serves the Bay Area region too."
