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Back in May, I wrote about Oakland International Airport (OAK) changing its name to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport (OAK). As you can imagine, there was a lot of fear that passengers would confuse this airport with San Francisco International Airport (SFO). A judge has now agreed and a federal judge has now granted SFO’s motion for a preliminary injunction against OAK.
San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport (OAK) cannot include the words “San Francisco Bay” in its name. The judge cited the harm that this name would cause to the nearby San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and also violate its trademark. The judge’s ruling states:
Because the two airports offer identical services, the near identity of the marks makes them confusingly similar…There is in fact no affiliation, connection or association between the Oakland airport and San Francisco is contrary to how airports in the United States are normally named. The Port has taken San Francisco’s valuable Mark and applied it to a smaller, less successful, and lower rated airport.”
The Port of Oakland issued a response. It reads:
The court’s ruling found that two of the three types of confusion alleged by SFO were without merit. The court order temporarily blocks OAK’s new name on the basis of the third type of alleged confusion: that travelers may think OAK is affiliated with SFO. OAK is not associated with SFO, of course, but is rather a convenient and centrally located option for travelers throughout the Bay Area. We are continuing to review the recent ruling and considering all available options.”
Oakland International Airport (OAK) had already rebranded and allocated a large budget to all of the changes in signage, website, and more.
Anthony’s Take: I used to fly to and from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) every other week for six years. I’ve only flown from Oakland International Airport (OAK) once and agree with the judge that it’s not in the same league. Hopefully, blocking the name change will avoid confusion.
(Image Credits: Joonyeop Baek and The Port of Oakland.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
1 comment
them not being in the same league to you has no bearing on the name of the airport, nor does it have any legal merit. Smaller? yes, less successful and lower rated? by what metric? That part of the ruling is flawed.