San Francisco seeks 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.
Chiu said in a statement: "We are already seeing traveler confusion around the use of Oakland's new name. This was entirely predictable and preventable.”
Chui added that San Francisco officials had tried to reason with Oakland officials to avoid litigation and come up with alternative names that would work for both sides, but those efforts had failed. He said the city had no alternative but to request the court to step in to protect its 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.
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."
