Examples
One well-known example is Flash Comics #1 by Fawcett Comics, which introduced Captain Thunder (later Captain Marvel). Competitors had already published a Flash Comics title, and created a character named "Captain Thunder", so the Flash Comics ashcan failed to claim those trademarks for the company, but it did establish a publication date for copyright purposes.
Similar practices are seen in other industries; a well-known film example is the 1994 version of The Fantastic Four, produced by Roger Corman, made only to maintain the license to the property. The movie had a $2 million budget and was not distributed.
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