Oakland Just Renamed Its Airport, Adding ‘San Francisco’ to the Name. Now the Real San Francisco is Suing

United Airlines and Virgin America aircraft landing at San Francisco International Airport
It’s an open secret that there are two airports in the Bay Area within ten miles (16 km) of downtown San Francisco, but only one of them has operated using the name of the vaunted earthquake and fire-prone municipality.
Now, however, there are two San Francisco airports and not everyone is happy about the situation.
The city of San Francisco filed suit on Thursday against the city of Oakland, California over the latter’s move to rename its airport San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.
Last week, the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners voted unanimously to change the name of Oakland International Airport to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.
The move won’t require a change to the airport’s IATA “OAK” code.
Those in favor of the change say it would let more travelers know Oakland International is within the Bay Area and could lead to more nonstop airline routes coming to OAK.
Across the Bay, the news was seen under a different light.
San Francisco officials are outraged and they contend that Oakland is intentionally trying to mislead fliers. In addition, they believe that the change infringes on the trademark of their own San Francisco International Airport, known as SFO.
One week after the change, the two Bay Area cities will meet in court.
The suit accuses Oakland of unfair competition and violating the trademark of San Francisco International Airport.  Oakland doesn’t see it that way, however.
“We will vigorously defend our right to claim our spot on the San Francisco Bay,” Robert Bernardo, a Port of Oakland spokesman, said in response to the suit.
In its filing with the court, San Francisco (the city) said that a name change would confuse travelers, who might book tickets to an airport other than the one intended which could lead to missed flights and connections.
“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,” the lawsuit reads.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)