New York Women’s Bar Association Raises Funds for Cancer Research

 Dyan Gershman is a New York City attorney who leads a boutique law practice focusing on areas such as corporate law, intellectual property licensing, commercial contracts, and doing business in the US as a foreign entity. Active in her professional community, Dyan Gershman is a longstanding member of the New York Women’s Bar Association (NYWBA), which combines legal education with advocacy on topics pertinent to women. It also spearheads charitable efforts such as community outreach and fundraisers.

The NYWBA sponsored participation in the May 2022 Cycle for Survival: New York fundraising event. This annual event focuses on raising money for the Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) to Beat Rare Cancers program and the leading-edge research the program enables.

As the largest and oldest private institution to undertake rare cancer research, MSK is uniquely positioned to deliver measurable results. More than $312 million has been raised since the inception of the fundraising event. Among the major breakthroughs substantially funded through Cycle for Survival is MSK-ACCESS, a noninvasive liquid biopsy technique that enables diagnosis and treatment of 129 cancer-associated genes through a simple draw of blood.

The NYWBA’s participation in the New York event (one of 15 held nationwide each year) involved a 4-hour Central Park bike ride in Wollman Rink. Enduring 90-degree temperatures, NYWBA participants, including the association’s executive director, raised funds for this charity. All of the money will be allocated by MSK to urgent research endeavors.

Managing IP and Sensitive Data Risks in Co-Development Arrangements

 Guiding Gershman Law, PLLC, as founder and partner, Dyan Gershman delivers legal counsel that meets the needs of international businesses maintaining or exploring US operations. One area in which Dyan Gershman regularly assists clients is forging business and commercial contracts in areas such as distribution, licensing, and co-development.

Also known as joint development agreements, co-development arrangements synergistically bring together two companies that each have technical competencies and/or financial resources that the other lacks. Together, they undertake the research and development of specific products and services that would be challenging to develop alone, with the aim of introducing them commercially.

In many cases, co-development agreements are undertaken between enterprises that are natural competitors. All too often, co-development is arranged with a default joint ownership arrangement in place, which becomes problematic when one of the companies moves to commercialize a project’s work without obtaining the co-owner’s consent (and often without sharing resulting revenue).

This potential pitfall makes it essential to negotiate the co-development agreement carefully, in ways that protect the intellectual property (IP) that each party brings to the table. Undertaken at the outset of a project, carefully drafted contracts safeguard against IP infringement and also provide control to specified parties for all aspects of IP disposition, such as licensing. In addition, they address areas of risk through confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements that are a prerequisite to sharing confidential data and trade secrets.

A well-crafted co-development agreement goes in-depth in defining which components of intellectual property used in complex joint undertakings are owned by which party, as well as ensuring that sensitive material are not shared beyond the strict shared parameters of the project.