As the Port of Oakland Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote on final adoption of ill-conceived renaming plan, City Attorney again urges the Port of Oakland to work with San Francisco on alternative names
SAN FRANCISCO (May 8, 2024) — City Attorney David Chiu sent a letter to the Port of Oakland Board of Commissioners yesterday urging them to reconsider plans to rename Oakland International Airport (OAK) that infringe on San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO) trademark. On April 11, the Port of Oakland Board of Commissioners approved on first read a plan to rename Oakland International Airport to “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.” The Board is scheduled to vote on final approval of the new name tomorrow.
After multiple unanswered offers to work with Oakland on alternative names that do not infringe on SFO’s trademark, San Francisco filed a lawsuit on April 18 to prevent infringement of SFO’s trademark. The letter sent by City Attorney Chiu this week represents yet another offer for both cities to come together to avoid a lawsuit.
“San Francisco took no pleasure in filing this lawsuit,” said City Attorney Chiu. “We urge Oakland leaders to see reason and collaborate with us so that we can avoid costly litigation. If we can work together on a name that meets the goals of both airports, we should do so for the good of all travelers and our region. If Oakland continues to rebuff our offers to partner, we will have to move forward with next steps in our trademark lawsuit and seek a preliminary injunction to stop infringement on SFO’s trademark.”
“I fully understand the importance of passenger growth to an airport, but this current renaming proposal does not represent the best interests of Bay Area travelers,” said SFO Airport Director Ivar C. Satero. “I urge the Port to Oakland to work with San Francisco find a collaborative solution that averts a protracted legal challenge.”
Background
SFO began operating in 1927, and has used the name “San Francisco Airport” or “San Francisco International Airport” throughout most of its history. The City has owned the U.S. federal trademark registration for the mark “San Francisco International Airport” with the first date of use in commerce in 1954. The registration has achieved incontestable status under federal law giving the City the exclusive use of the “San Francisco International Airport” trademark.
Renaming Oakland International Airport to “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport” will very likely cause widespread confusion, mishaps, and economic loss for travelers, to the detriment of both airports and the Bay Area overall. The renaming plan appears intentionally designed to divert travelers who may be unfamiliar with Bay Area geography and lead them to believe OAK has a business relationship with SFO, which it does not. The renaming would be particularly challenging for international travelers who may not speak or read English—an important segment of SFO’s customer base.
Numerous Bay Area leaders and residents have voiced concerns about the renaming plan. A review of the survey the Port of Oakland commissioned related to the name change revealed the survey was riddled with leading questions devised to get respondents to select a preferred answer.
The survey used leading language implying that an OAK name change will result in positive benefits such as increased flights or broader economic benefits to Oakland. These positive benefits are entirely hypothetical, but also this survey design encourages respondents to say they are comfortable with the name change, inflating the level of support. Survey respondents were never presented with specific, alternative names for OAK, so it is unclear whether respondents would be comfortable with any specific name change. Additionally, when asked about the importance of the airport’s name, the most commonly selected response option, selected by 35 percent of respondents, was “not important at all.”
The clear similarity and the resulting very high likelihood of confusion between San Francisco’s registered trademark “San Francisco International Airport” and Oakland International Airport’s proposed name “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport” gives San Francisco strong federal trademark infringement and related common law and state claims against Oakland.
San Francisco was given just 30 minutes advance notice of the renaming plan before the Port of Oakland announced the proposed new name to the public on March 29. The Port of Oakland Board of Commissioners voted to approve the new name on first reading on April 11. After multiple attempts to engage with the Port of Oakland on alternative names and avoid litigation, San Francisco filed a lawsuit on April 18 to prevent misuse of SFO’s trademark.
The Port of Oakland Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote on the final reading of the renaming proposal at a public meeting tomorrow, May 9 at 3:00 p.m. City Attorney Chiu’s letter to the Port of Oakland Board of Commissioners can be found here.
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