Oakland's Airport Name Dispute Finally Lands After 2 Years of Legal Turbulence

After a two-year legal battle and several rebrands, the Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport is here to stay — the name, that is.

The city of San Francisco and the Port of Oakland announced a settlement on Tuesday, announcing that both parties will drop their lawsuits over a trademark dispute related to the airport’s renaming.

“We’re proud Oakland fought for, and preserved the right to retain our airport’s full name that puts Oakland first and recognizes OAK’s location on the San Francisco Bay,” said Mary Richardson, attorney for the Port of Oakland. “We believe more awareness of the airports in the region benefits all consumers.”

In April 2024, the Oakland airport caused a stir with its decision to rename itself, citing a need to “raise more geographic awareness” and draw more traffic to the less-frequented traveling hub across the Bay.

The original choice? “The San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.”

A week after the rechristening, City Attorney David Chiu swiftly slapped the Port with a lawsuit, telling KQED at the time that “Oakland intentionally designed their new rename to divert those who were unfamiliar with Bay Area geography.”

He also alleged that the airport intended to “mislead the public in suggesting that Oakland might have a business relationship with SFO, which it does not.”

A federal district judge ruled in favor of San Francisco, awarding a preliminary injunction that prevented Oakland from proceeding with its new name, but the Port of Oakland wasn’t ready to raise the white flag just yet — it filed an appeal through the Ninth Circuit court, and presented a new name: The Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport.

Switching the first two terms around, however, did not cut it with San Francisco city officials, who balked at the adjustment as relatively the same as the prior name.

But as of Tuesday, the city seemed to come around — in a statement, Chiu celebrated the resolution, calling it one “that accomplishes Oakland’s goals while still protecting the San Francisco International Airport trademark.”

San Francisco International Airport’s director, Mike Nakornkhet, echoed Chiu’s remarks, saying that the agreement “provides clarity for travelers to make informed decisions about travel through our respective airports.”

According to Tuesday’s agreement, the Oakland airport may keep this current iteration under several conditions.

First, the words “San Francisco” cannot appear larger than “Oakland” on its displays and marketing materials.

In online advertising, the airport must refrain from using keywords such as “San Francisco Airport,” “SF Airport,” and “San Francisco International Airport,” terms related to the origin of San Francisco’s trademark infringement claims against Oakland airport’s renaming.

And finally, Oakland’s airport agreed not to add “SF” to its existing IATA code, which means that it’s still just OAK.