The cities of San Francisco and Oakland reached a tentative settlement of their trademark dispute over Oakland’s renaming of its airport to “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.”
The parties reached an agreement after a Dec. 16 mediation session lasting more than 12 hours and are now waiting for final approval on the deal, according to a stipulation filed Wednesday.
The cities were scheduled to attend a hearing Thursday over San Francisco’s motion to add claims about the airport’s second rebranding, which changed the name to “Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport.” Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixson of the US District Court for the Northern District of California postponed that hearing in light of the tentative agreement.
The San Francisco city attorney’s office and the Port of Oakland declined to comment on the terms of the deal.
The fight started in 2024 when San Francisco sued Oakland and its Board of Port Commissioners—which runs the city’s airport—days after the board preliminarily approved the name change.
The complaint alleged the name infringes the “San Francisco International Airport” trademark.
Hixson granted a preliminary injunction in November 2024 prohibiting Oakland’s use of the new airport name while the suit proceeded, ruling the new moniker would falsely imply affiliation with the San Francisco airport.
Oakland appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, arguing Hixson’s analysis ignored that San Francisco presented no evidence of consumer confusion over who owns the Oakland airport. A Ninth Circuit panel appeared split on whether to undo Hixson’s injunction during oral argument in November.
Following the ban, Oakland in July introduced the “Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport” name as a substitute. San Francisco in November moved to amend its complaint to add the second name to the lawsuit.
Cooley LLP, Dergosits & Noah LLP, and the City Attorney’s Office represent San Francisco. Fennemore Craig PC and in-house counsel represent the port.
The case is City & Cnty. of San Francisco v. City of Oakland, N.D. Cal., No. 24-cv-02311, stipulation filed 12/17/25.
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