What Is Happening to By Valenti®
Over the past several years, I have watched what I believe to be trademark piggybacking by unrelated parties, siphoning attention, credibility, and visibility away from my brand in ways that are difficult to quantify but deeply damaging in practice.
The most recent instance followed a familiar pattern: an unrelated business registered a domain incorporating my trademark, without any documented history showing that it had been known as By Valenti® at all. This is not insignificant.
Domains are not neutral assets. They influence search behavior, consumer perception, brand association and brand recognition. That is precisely why global brands invest heavily in monitoring and enforcement. The harm does not require identical products or direct competition — it begins much earlier, at the point of attention.
How I Discovered the Issue
Last year, a friend said to me, “I didn’t know you had a construction company in Florida.”
That comment led me to discover that an unrelated business had adopted a near-identical naming construct, asserting that a shared surname — and the purported insignificance of the word “by” — permitted use of my registered trademark.
That position — frequently raised in trademark disputes to challenge enforceability — ignores how trademarks function in the real world: as source identifiers, not grammatical exercises that are free to be abused and used to exert pressure on trademark owners.
How Trademark Erosion Actually Happens
Trademark harm today rarely looks like counterfeiting. In digital and DTC environments, it often unfolds quietly:
- An unrelated business adopts a near-identical name and domain.
- Often the unrelated business has no historical record showing they were known by that name.
- Search results for you brand name begin to blur.
- Curiosity clicks divert elsewhere.
- Consumers ask whether the businesses are connected.
- Reputation and goodwill become entangled.
- Visibility declines without a single “lost sale” to point to.
Nothing is taken outright.
Everything is diluted gradually.
This is particularly destabilizing for brands whose value lies in trust, recognition, and clarity, like ours.
Attrition as a Trademark Pressure Tactic
Trademark law does not formally define “attrition” — but in practice, attrition is real.
Attrition occurs when a junior user persists in brand-forward use after notice, knowing that enforcement requires prolonged effort, monitoring, significant financial resources, and escalation. The trademark remains valid, but defending it becomes an endurance test.
The cost is cumulative:
- time pulled from operating the business
- resources diverted to monitoring and response
- loss of ranking and visibility
- hesitation from partners and platforms
- erosion of brand clarity — including confusion for search engines attempting to reconcile unrelated entities under the same name
Over time, this pressure weakens the commercial strength of the mark without any court ever ordering it or even stopping it.
Why Women-Led Brands Are Especially Vulnerable
This form of trademark erosion disproportionately affects women-led and independently owned brands, particularly in the DTC space.
Not because our trademarks are weaker — but because:
- we are less likely to have in-house legal teams
- we are less likely to escalate immediately
- we are often encouraged to be “reasonable” rather than firm
- our brands are built on credibility, which is easy to divert and hard to measure
In an environment where endurance can substitute for entitlement, smaller brands become easier targets.
The Illusion of Protection
Trademark registration is essential — but it is not self-executing.
Registration grants rights.
Enforcement requires sustained resources.
Between those two realities lies a gap where many small brands struggle, not because they lack legitimacy, but because they are worn down.
Administrative processes address only narrow issues. Broader questions — goodwill diversion, initial-interest confusion, persistence after notice — remain unresolved unless a business can afford prolonged escalation.
Why I’m Writing This Now
I am writing this not to adjudicate a dispute or name parties, but to document a reality that many founders experience silently. This article reflects my experience and views as a 30+ year business and trademark owner and does not call for or encourage any action by third parties.
By Valenti® existed exclusively for nearly twenty years. Today, I am fighting to preserve not only ownership — but clarity, distinctiveness, and fair association.
Trademark erosion does not announce itself loudly.
It happens quietly and in the dark, while you are busy building your business, your brand.
Because this practice thrives in the dark, I am shedding a giant bright light on it.
For the past year, I have been addressing a business in Rome, Italy that has been operating under my registered trademark without authorization, including through business registration, public-facing branding, and a nearly identical domain (www.byvalentiofficial.com) presenting itself as the “Official By Valenti.” The business publicly presented itself as the founder and as an official source of my EU-registered mark By Valenti®, and did so through a physical retail location displaying trademarked signage, branded shopping bags, several social media accounts, and paid promotional content on a local blog.
Through enforcement efforts, we were able to secure the removal of the website, the paid blog article, and several associated social media accounts. We are currently pursuing the removal of remaining trademark-bearing signage, marketing materials, and business registrations incorporating my mark, as well as continuing uses that risk creating consumer confusion as to authorship, affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement with By Valenti®. Formal complaints have been filed with the Camera di Commercio di Roma, a final cease-and-desist letter has been issued, and a complaint with the Guardia di Finanza will follow if compliance is not achieved.
A second unrelated party followed a similar pattern: a derivative domain incorporating my trademark (www.builtbyvalenti.com). Cease-and-desist letters and an administrative WIPO UDRP proceeding — Manuela Valenti LLC d/b/a By Valenti Organics v. Troy Valenti, Valenti Florida Realty, Case No. D2025-3674 (public record) — did not result in cessation of the domain’s use.
The next step may require formal legal action to protect the distinctiveness and value of the mark and my brand.
Both instances create a false impression of affiliation, sponsorship, origin, or endorsement with By Valenti®. Both trade on the identity I've created and embodied through my brand, my persona, and my family name and heritage.
But we all share the same last name, right? Sure, I also share the same last name with Antonio Valenti, Giorgio Valenti, and many other equally valid trademarks and recognized names, and yet I wouldn't dare, nor should anyone, misappropriate their marks without facing the consequences, a) out of respect for private corporate assets, and b) common business decency, which seems is missing these days.
Long gone are the days when misappropriating something that isn’t yours, nor something you created, is seen as immoral and plainly wrong.
I’m ready to address these practices publicly and in court, and to push for stronger enforcement and accountability within the law, not only for me, but the many women-led brands who silently endure similar harm.
For Other Founders Reading This
If you are a founder — especially a woman founder — know this:
- You are allowed to speak about your trademark.
- You are allowed to name the harm you are experiencing.
- You are allowed to acknowledge when endurance is being tested.
- You are allowed to ask for help.
If you are seeing unexplained drops in visibility, confusion around your name, domains similar to your trademark, or the slow dilution of something you built — trust that instinct. It is not imaginary, and it is not uncommon. It is a conversation that deserves to happen in the open — among business owners, legal teams, judges, and USPTO officers.
For Anyone Reading This and Wanting to Help
If you want to help,
- donate (button below) to help offset trademark enforcement, legal, and operational costs associated with protecting the By Valenti® brand,
- support our work by purchasing our products,
- if you're a trademark Lanham Act litigator and believe you may be able to assist, contact us,
- if wish to stay informed, you may follow our official social channels: Instagram @byvalenti, Facebook @byvalenti and now TikTok @byvalenti
