In its online edition of 12 December 2007 the German newspaper Das Handelsblatt features an article [in German] on "trade mark pirates" and lists four capital mistakes that are often committed by small and medium sized companies when looking after their trade mark portfolio. According to Das Handelsblatt these four common mistakes are
(1) not to apply for a trade mark application at all;
(2) to apply too late;
(3) bad trade mark searching prior to application;
(4) misguided love of legal conflicts.