The city of San Francisco on Thursday voted to change the name of the city’s airport to San Francisco Bay-Oakland International Airport, saying the change would cause confusion and already impact the airport’s finances. , sued Oakland.
Last week, the Port of Oakland board voted unanimously to move forward with the name change, and scheduled a second vote for final approval on May 9.
This airport is now called Oakland International Airport.
“We had hoped that the city of Oakland would come to its senses, but since it has refused to cooperate with an acceptable alternative name, we are forced to file a lawsuit to protect the SFO trademark,” San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said in a statement. We have no choice but to wake up.”
The city of San Francisco is asking a court to block Oakland Airport’s name change from proceeding and rule that the new name infringes on San Francisco International Airport’s trademark.
“The name change plan appears to be intentionally designed to distract travelers unfamiliar with Bay Area geography and lead them to believe that OAK has a business relationship with SFO. , that’s actually not the case,” Chiu said, adding that the name change would cause confusion, especially internationally. Travelers who cannot speak or read English.
Oakland Airport officials said they intend to implement the name change and defend their rights in court.
“The proposed OAK name change does not infringe on SFO’s trademarks,” Ports of Auckland said in a statement.
“We will vigorously defend our right to claim our position in San Francisco Bay.”
