AUBURN - A city woman is suing a competing marina to reclaim naming rights for Owasco Marine and up to $5 million in damages.

Auburn Marine Sales and Service partners Bill Newcomb and David Wasileski purchased the former Trade-A-Yacht on the Owasco River off of Pulsifer Avenue in Auburn last year and began doing business as Owasco Marine in July. Roseanne Stott filed a complaint as the executrix of her deceased husband's estate, which included Owasco Marine.

She kept the marina business, but erroneously released the name to a former owner, according to Camillus attorney Thomas O'Bryan. He said his client has lost 80 percent of her boating business off Owasco Road to Newcomb and Wasileski.

There's more at stake than Stott's customer base, O'Bryan said. The name comes with a reputation and coveted square footage at the Central New York Boat Show and Sale each February.

“This is a huge thing for these boat dealers,” O'Bryan said.

Just as Newcomb and Wasileski want the name in part for its boat show reputation, Roseanne Stott needs the recognition to rebuild the business, he said. The plaintiffs argue that Stott was instructed to sign the naming rights over because of 10-year-old paperwork that her lawyer was unfamiliar with.

According to the complaint, Kevin Stott retained naming rights in 1990, meaning Roseanne did not have to release it as she thought. Previous Owasco Marine owner Dennis Meegan obtained release of the name from Stott and promptly sold it to Newcomb and Wasileski in July 2007, the suit alleges.

When she tried to make a go of her business this past season, Stott realized the name's significance, O'Bryan said. The confusion stemmed from Kevin Stott's untimely death at age 51 in 2005.

“He never had made any plans to turn the business over to his family, God forbid something bad were to happen to him,” O'Bryan said.

Rosanne and her lawyer had little knowledge of the business or the naming rights. The complaint contends the

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