This must be a joke, misunderstanding or a lawyer gone AWOL…
According to his blog, Tom Raftery has been sent a C&D latter (Cease and Desist) by lawyers working on behalf of CMP Media (who organise the Web2.0 conference with O’Reilly).
They are asserting that he is not allowed to use the term “web2.0” in his does-what-it-says-on-the-tin “IT@Cork Web 2.0 half day Conference” named event.
“Basically O’Reilly are claiming to have applied for a trademark for the term “Web 2.0? and therefore IT@Cork can’t use the term for its conference. Apparantly (sic) use of the term “Web 2.0? is a “flagrant violation” of their trademark rights!”
I simply can’t believe O’Reilly are doing this, and I almost feel like the need to check my calendar to confirm it’s not April 1st!