An Overview of NYWBA Grant Partners

Dyan Gershman is an experienced corporate attorney located in New York City. As a partner at Gershman Law, PLLC, which she founded in 2014, she has represented both US-based and international business clients. Dyan Gershman spends time as a member of industry organizations such as the NYC Bar Association and the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York.

Established in 1934, the New York Women’s Bar Association (NYWBA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to elevating women not only in the legal field, but throughout society. The New York Women’s Bar Association Foundation, Inc. (NYWBAF) functions as the charitable arm of the NYWBA, operating with a mission of eliminating gender bias and discrimination from both the legal system and the industry as a whole.

The foundation provides a number of grants to programs and projects that support this mission, as well as services that provide legal support and promote the safety and well-being of women and children. NYWBAF is longtime supporter of the Joint Minority Bar Association’s Judicial Internship Program. The program was incorporated into the Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program, Inc., in 2015, allowing grant opportunities to be extended to high school students.

NYWBA has provided multiple grants to the Pro Bono Matrimonial Project, which is a product of an NYWBA-New York Law School Collaboration. The Pro Bono Matrimonial Project involves volunteer attorneys providing representation to individuals engaged in various contested matrimonial matters.

Other grant recipients include the Justice Resource Center, which provides legal information to NYC high school students and educators, and Children’s Pressline, which supports adolescent interest in journalism.

NYC Bar Association Calls for Increased C-SPAN Coverage of US Congress

 Based in New York City, Dyan Gershman is the founder of and a partner at Gershman Law, PLLC. In addition to managing operations at the elite corporate law firm, Dyan Gershman is an active member of local professional organizations such as the New York City Bar Association.

The NYC Bar Association is a legal association for the state’s professional law community. Recently, it has advocated for greater freedom of press for Congressional proceedings, specifically in regards to camera access afforded to C-SPAN. The media outlet has frequently requested expanded latitude for coverage of Congressional meetings, such as having complete control of camera placement and coverage.

The NYC Bar Association has expressed full support of the C-SPAN request, in part by drafting a letter through the association’s Communications and Media Law Committee. The letter highlighted the perpetual need for governmental transparency and was sent directly to House leadership. The committee’s messaging underscored public interest in a number of protracted House debates in recent years as proof that American citizens will follow Congressional proceedings if they are provided the opportunity to do so.

In addition to representing law and order throughout the country, the NYC Bar Association cited Congress’s history of convening in the city as a reason for taking a personal vestment in matters of Congressional transparency.

WBASNY’s International Women’s Rights Committee

 Gershman Law, PLLC, partner Dyan Gershman represents clients in joint ventures, commercial contracts, intellectual licensing, and mergers and acquisitions. Active in the professional community, Dyan Gershman is a member of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY), which promotes the advancement of women in the legal profession.

Members of WBASNY can join the organization’s more than 40 state or local committees focused on cutting-edge issues. For example, the International Women’s Rights Committee works with international women’s rights organizations, governmental entities, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on projects impacting women’s rights worldwide. The Committee’s work has resulted in WBASNY signing an amicus curiae to a brief in a class action lawsuit brought by the women of Bosnia, as well as in the United Nations Department of Public Information achieving NGO status.

Potential future projects for the committee include lobbying Congress to ratify United Nations documents protecting essential women’s rights.

High-Profile IP Case Involving Alarm.com and Vivint

 Based in New York City, Dyan Gershman offers corporate counsel at Gershman Law, PLLC to her clients in matters ranging from commercial contracts, M&A, to intellectual property. Dyan Gershman has extensive knowledge of patent cases involving technology and infringement claims, and follows legal developments and ongoing cases relevant to her own work.

One high-profile case filed with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in early 2023 centers on Alarm.com, Inc. (ADC), joined by ICN Acquisition, LLC, in filing 15 distinct claims of patent infringement against Vivint. The allegation is that Vivint knowingly utilized Alarm’s patented ADC back-end software to sell and market its own sensor and security devices.

As an Alarm.com dealer starting in 2007, Vivint sold security and “smart home” packages that contained the ADC back-end platform. Vivint allegedly employed the ADC back-end and an ICN platform for its own products without a license until 2014. The suit seeks to end Vivint’s infringement and ensure that ADC and ICN receive redress for the damage caused by Vivint.

The situation is complex, as Vivint, ultimately needing a license for the back-end it had allegedly developed using ADC’s technology, entered into a late 2013 patent cross-licensing deal with ADC. In November 2022, Vivint announced a cessation of its payment of royalty fees. This triggered a filing of arbitration by ADC, under the terms of that agreement, with a remedy from the confidential process expected in 12 to 16 months.

Should a patent infringement be proven, a potential remedy available to Alarm.com is the disgorgement of revenues that Vivint derives from the commercial use of the technology and ongoing royalty payments.