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MELBOURNE, Fla. (FOX 35 Orlando) - Call it a name game-blame game. After years of squabbling, Orlando’s Airport Authority is now taking their beef to court. Officials there want Melbourne’s airport to drop "Orlando" from the name.
A lawsuit has just been filed, so now, the airports are at an elevated level of tension. In the suit, Orlando airport officials accuse Orlando-Melbourne of federal and state false advertising and federal and state trademark infringement. Officials at Orlando-Melbourne Airport declined to comment, due to pending litigation.
This started in 2010. That’s when Melbourne added Orlando to its title. Officials say within a year online traffic soared from 1.5 million to 5 million clicks. Officials in Brevard County are quick to point out it’s a short drive to Orlando from Melbourne.
“We’re within a very short proximity,” said Bryan Lober, Vice Chair of the Brevard County Commission.
Lober says Sanford is doing it, so why not Melbourne?
“I think it’s an embellished problem, in a sense, there is such little likelihood of confusion and they’re such a small number of individuals that are impacted, it seems that it’s making much ado about nothing,” he said.
No court date yet. And neither side is budging.