Cleveland "Hero" Charles Ramsey Seeks To Trademark His Name For Halloween Costumes And Masks, Other Merch

Anticipating that future Halloween revelers might want to dress up like him, the man credited with helping to rescue a trio of female captives from a Cleveland house of horrors has filed to trademark his name for commercial purposes, records show.

Charles Ramsey, whose TV interviews and 911 call made him famous following the discovery of the three women in alleged captor Ariel Castro’s home, last month filed three applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The filings, submitted by Ramsey’s lawyer, seek marks for the names “Charles Ramsey” and “Charles Seymour Ramsey,” and the phrase “Dead Giveaway.” In a famous interview after the women were freed on May 6, Ramsey said, “I knew something was wrong when a little, pretty white girl ran into a black man’s arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway.”

The 43-year-old Ramsey’s USPTO applications--which cost a combined $1650--cover several different kinds of products, including “Halloween costumes and masks sold in connection therewith,” bracelets, t-shirts, and shoes.

Ramsey, who said he was eating a Big Mac when he leaped into service to help free the women, bristled when several restaurants began offering burgers bearing his name (or publicly offered him free food for life). “I never told these people they could use my name for this,” Ramsey said in a statement released by his lawyer.

Ramsey’s official web site, charlesramseylive.com, appears to be under construction. The site’s homepage, which carries a “Team Ramsey, LLC” copyright, includes photos of a beaming Ramsey (sse above) and the motto “Dead Giveaway!”