Oakland’s international airport may not use San Francisco in its name, according to a temporary order from a federal judge this week, after the city of San Francisco complained that letting it do so would suggest it was linked to San Francisco International Airport.
The city also sought to make the case that travelers could be confused and end up at the wrong airport, but the judge denied those arguments.
This year, the Port of Oakland, which owns the Oakland airport, told the city of San Francisco of its plans to rename the airport as the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport to make travelers aware of its location in the Bay Area.
The city of San Francisco “objected repeatedly” leading up to the official renaming in May, the city attorney’s office said in a statement on Tuesday. David Chiu, the city’s attorney, filed a lawsuit against the Port of Oakland on April 18 to protect the trademark title “San Francisco International Airport.”
The Port officially renamed the airport, which had been called Metropolitan Oakland International, after a unanimous vote of the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners, according to a news release issued by the port.
Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixson of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California decided on Tuesday to temporarily block the Port of Oakland from calling itself the new name because the Port had taken San Francisco’s trademark name and “applied it to a smaller, less successful, and lower rated airport,” according to court documents. He added that the new name “strongly implies affiliation with San Francisco and the San Francisco International Airport.”
Now, the Oakland airport will have to remove its signage, change its website and update its social media accounts, which still displayed the San Francisco Bay name as of Wednesday.
“For months, we have tried reasoning with Oakland officials to avoid litigation and come up with alternative names that would work for all of us,” Mr. Chiu said in a statement on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, those efforts were not productive, and we had no choice but to ask the court to step in and protect our trademark.”
The Port of Oakland said in an emailed statement that its airport is not associated with San Francisco, but it is “a convenient and centrally located option for travelers throughout the Bay Area.”
The Port also said that it is “currently working to identify and implement the steps needed to comply with the Court’s order,” adding that it is also “continuing to consider its available options in response to the Court’s order.”
The judge’s decision on Tuesday was a preliminary injunction put in place while the case is fully heard.
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