San Francisco has sued the city of Oakland over its plan to rename its airport to "San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport." The city claimed that the proposed name would infringe on San Francisco International Airport's trademark and cause confusion among travelers.
San Francisco Sues Oakland City Over Plans to Rename Airport
According to The Hill, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed the federal trademark infringement lawsuit Thursday after the Port of Oakland Board of Commissioners approved the plan to rename the Oakland International Airport.
According to Chiu, changing the name of the Oakland International Airport to "San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport" would infringe on the trademarks of San Francisco International Airport, violating federal and state intellectual property law.
"Oakland Airport's hasty and unnecessary efforts and refusal to engage in discussions of alternative names have left the City and County of San Francisco no choice but to bring this complaint against the Defendant City of Oakland," the lawsuit said.
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The lawsuit noted that the Oakland International Airport wants to increase passengers and profits "by rushing to unlawfully incorporate San Francisco Airport's ('SFO') trademarked name into its own."
"We had hoped Oakland would come to its senses, but their refusal to collaborate on an acceptable alternative name leaves us no choice but to file a lawsuit to protect SFO's trademark," Chiu said in a statement.
"This new name will cause confusion and chaos for travelers, which will damage the travel industry for the entire region. We are already seeing at least one airline use the new name, indicating that SFO has already suffered economic harm," he added.
The statement noted that San Francisco International Airport has been in operation since 1927, and the city has owned the US federal trademark for its name since the 1950s.
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