A Tennessee man recently filed a trademark application for the name “Renee Good,” signaling an intent to monetize on the death of a Minnesota woman who was fatally shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis earlier this month.

Russell Wayne Scales of Knoxville, Tennessee, filed the application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on Jan. 11, just days after the Jan. 7 shooting, and listed the request for t-shirts, including graphic t-shirts and long-sleeve shirts. The application is an "intent-to-use" filing, meaning that he has not yet informed the USPTO of the name being used as a trademark.

Good, who was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross, allegedly attempted to ram federal agents with her car prior to the shooting. 

George Floyd, O.J. Simpson applications rejected or abandoned

The filing was not the first time people have tried to monetize tragedies. People have also filed trademark applications for George Floyd, a black man killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis in 2020, and OJ Simpson attempted to make his initials and name a legally protected trademark.

A man named Munemo Mushonga attempted to trademark Floyd’s name for the production of film and television services in 2020, but later abandoned the process. The man had no known connection to Floyd or his family, and no known connections to the entertainment industry, according to Variety. 

According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in order to acquire the trademark of a living person, the filer has to have approval from the individual. However, if the person in question is deceased and of public notoriety, the trademark application could be denied. For that reason, the estates of many musicians and actors who enjoyed success, such as Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali often bring lawsuits to stop others from using a famous name on goods and services.

Simpson applied for the trademark rights to his first two initials for a whole host of merchandise in 1995, including playing cards, footballs, skateboards, video games, puppets, jigsaw puzzles and rubber stamps. The trademark would have barred retailers from using his initials on the same kind of merchandise that he sells. 

The late-football player’s applications were later dismissed by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, after William Ritchie opposed the trademarks on grounds that they were not registrable because one application was largely a surname and the other was immoral or scandalous. Ritchie claimed no financial interest in the O.J. Simpson mark, and objected on moral grounds.

Merely being offensive may not always be grounds for denying a trademark 

In 2017, members of the Asian-American rock band "The Slants" won the right to call themselves by a disparaging name, the Supreme Court ruled. In that case, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that "The disparagement clause violates the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause [...] contrary to the Government's contention, trademarks are private, not government speech."

The band told NPR that it wanted to reclaim what is often seen as a slur.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.