The Port of Oakland is appealing a court ruling that temporarily prevents the company from using the new airport name, San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.
The port filed a notice Thursday challenging the Nov. 12 ruling in U.S. District Court that blocked the new name in advertising, marketing or other airport services until an ongoing lawsuit resolves a lawsuit between Oakland and San Francisco.
The port claims that Oakland’s airport is the closest major airport, covering 58 percent of the Bay Area, and is next to San Francisco Bay. Travelers deserve “adequate choices among airports in the same metro region that are allowed to compete on a level playing field,” the port said in a news release Thursday.
After the port approved the name change earlier this year, San Francisco’s city attorney sought a preliminary injunction in September to stop use of the new name, saying it infringed on their trademark for San Francisco International Airport and travelers confused.
In November, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson sided with San Francisco, saying it is likely to prevail in the pending lawsuit over the claim that the name change “falsely implies ties, ties and associations” between the two airports, which according to the three-letter codes of SFO and OAK.
However, port officials said San Francisco is trying to “stifle competition and travel choices” for travelers in the Bay Area.
“San Francisco is attempting to relegate OAK and Oakland to second-class citizens. The Port has no interest in passing OAK off as SFO. OAK is clearly and proudly Oakland,” Port of Oakland Attorney Mary Richardson said in a news release Thursday. .
