Three Contact Lens Manufacturers Investigated for Price Fixing

“Moves by three of the four major U.S. contact lens makers to set price floors for many of their products, preventing low-cost retailers from discounting the expensive devices, have drawn scrutiny from lawmakers.,” reports Reuters. “The Senate Judiciary Committee's nine-member antitrust panel will meet on Wednesday to consider the decisions by Alcon, owned by Novartis AG ; Bausch+Lomb, owned by Valeant Pharmaceuticals ; and Johnson & Johnson to put in place minimum sale prices for some of their products. The practice would have been illegal just a decade ago but became legal when the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that manufacturers can set minimum sale prices in some situations. Lawmakers will seek to determine whether these policies limit competition and lead to higher prices for consumers.” Read more.

Johnson & Johnson Wins Patent Case with Rembrandt Vision

“The Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld a district court victory for Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc. in a patent infringement case brought by Rembrandt Vision Technologies LP, finding that a judge correctly struck expert testimony the latter company claimed could have swayed the jury,” reports Law 360. “The 3-0 panel ruling affirms a decision by a Florida federal jury that two lines of Johnson & Johnson contact lenses did not infringe Rembrandt's patent for a type of soft contact lens that can be worn for extended periods.” Read more.

Rembrandt Wants Ruling on CL Patent Infringement Case

“Rembrandt Vision Technologies LP urged a Federal Circuit panel on Tuesday to reverse a jury verdict and judgment ruling that two lines of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc. contact lenses don't infringe its patent, claiming the judge erroneously barred key evidence that could have swayed the jury,” says a recent Law 360 post. “According to Rembrandt, U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan granted an overly broad motion in limine prior to the jury trial.” Read more.

"Healthy Vision" Podcast Lands on AllAboutVision.com

Vistakon, a division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., posted its Healthy Vision with Dr. Val Jones podcasts on AllAboutVision.com. The program, supported by Acuvue brand contact lense and hosted Val Jones, M.D., CEO of Better Health, LLC, is said to provide consumers with information and resources to manage their eye health. The series provides information on more than 50 eye conditions and diseases, sections on special-interest topics like computer vision, sports vision, nutrition and eyes, and children’s vision, as well as helpful information on eyeglasses, contact lenses, and surgical procedures that address vision problems. Last year, the site has drawn more than 17 million unique visitors and nearly 30 million page views. Its content is developed with the input of an advisory board of optometrists, ophthalmologists and opticians.  Articles are written and updated by a team of journalists with decades of experience in the eye care field, and reviewed by the advisory board. The Health on the Net Foundation reported has certified the site for trustworthiness. Read more.

Ray-Ban Maker Wants $10 Billion for the Company

"Warburg Pincus is looking to sell its eye-care company Bausch & Lomb, and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), and Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) have all shown an interest in acquiring the company that made Ray-Bans an iconic sunglass brand." So goes the post on Wall St. Cheat Sheet. "With the assistance of Goldman Sachs, Warburg has decided to sell the business for approximately $10 billion and will begin seeking first-round bids by the end of January. In 2007, the global private equity firm took Bausch & Lomb private, buying the company for $4.6 billion, including debt." Read more.

Find the Best CL for Your Patient

Searching through lens parameters, manufacturers, modalities, and materials, Johnson & Johnson's new Acuvue contact lens finder helps ECPs find the right contact lens, including brands other than Acuvue Read more. Visit the site.

More on Johnson and Johnson's CLs with Shadow Effect

Equities.com ran the following post about the contact lens with shadow effect from Johnson and Johnson, which recently received a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office:

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: "Contact lenses can be colored or tinted to provide a variety of effects to the appearance of the eye. This can be done to correct a problem with the appearance of the eye or for cosmetic purposes. Such contact lenses can be used to enhance a particular aspect of one's appearance or even one's overall appearance. The invention is directed to contact lenses that perform these functions through a shadow effect.

"It is desirable to retain the cosmetic lenses of the invention in a particular position on the eye, keep the lenses within a range of positions on eye, or return the lens to a particular position or range of positions after movement of the lens. This maintenance of the on-eye orientation of a lens typically is accomplished by altering the mechanical characteristics of the lens. Prism stabilization including decentering of the lens' front surface relative to the back surface, thickening of the inferior lens periphery, forming depressions or elevations on the lens' surface, and truncating the lens edge are examples of stabilization approaches. Additionally, dynamic stabilization has been used in which the lens is stabilized by the use of thin zones, or areas in which the thickness of the lens' periphery is reduced. Typically, the thin zones are located at two regions that are symmetric about either the vertical or horizontal axis of the lens from the vantage point of its on-eye placement."

Read more.

Johnson and Johnson Receives Patent for CL with Shadow Effect

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has assigned a patent Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and 11 co-inventors for a "contact lens with shadow effect," according to a press release on Eqities. The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A contact lens with a central portion, an iris portion, and a peripheral portion disposed about the iris portion; wherein the iris portion contains an arcuate colored or tinted portion that provides a shadow effect; the peripheral portion can be colored white and can have a pattern that graduates to transparent towards the outer diameter of the lens."Read more. 

Read the patent claim and the names of the 11 co-inventors here.

Acuvue CLs Clear Patent-Infringement Claims

"Johnson & Johnson cleared patent-infringement claims over its Acuvue contact lenses after a federal judge found that a witness gave inconsistent testimony about product testing," according to Courthouse News. "In a federal complaint, Rembrandt Vision Technologies claimed that Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc.'s Acuvue Advance and Acuvue Oasys contact lenses infringed on its patent." Read more.

Acuvue for Astigmatics Introduced in Canada

1-Day Acuvue Moist Brand for Astigmatism is now available in Canada. The lenses feature what J&J calls a blink stablized design, which uses nthe pressures of a blinking eye to keep the lens in place and aligned. The lenses are made using Lacreon technology, a process that permanently embeds a water holding ingredient, similar to that found in natural tears, into the proven etafilcon A material of the CL.This technological advancement locks in moisture that lasts throughout the day. See the post for its U.S. introduction.

Eye Allergy Symptoms Make Life Awful, So Says a Survey

We already knew this, but the survey says, "Spring can be a difficult time for the one in five individuals affected by seasonal eye allergies.For many vision corrected individuals, eye allergy symptoms such as itchy, watery, or red eyes often keep them from enjoying daily activities, affect their appearance, and impact their performance at work, at school, and during sports, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Vistakon Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc," according to a post on 4-Traders. Read more.

Accuvue Promoting CLs During London Marathon

ContactLenses.co.uk reports that "contact lens manufacturer Johnson & Johnson Vision Care has announced a new scheme that will encourage people running this year's London Marathon to wear contact lenses on the way round." Read more.

J&J Challenges CIBA's Ads

"The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has determined that although CIBA Vision Corp can support certain advertising claims made as part of its 'Power of One' advertising campaign, it recommended that CIBA modify or discontinue certain other claims made for CIBA Dailies and CIBA Air Optix Aqua contact lenses, according to a National Advertising Division press release," reports PCONSuperSite. "The advertising at issue was challenged by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc. (JJVC), who contended that the “Power of One” campaign relied on selective citation of data of reported differences in certain studies of patient compliance rates with the Manufacturer Recommended Replacement Frequency (MRRF) for daily, 2-week and monthly disposable contact lenses, the release said." Read more.

J&J's Vistakon Launches "New You" Sweepstakes

Vistakon, Div. of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., launched its "New You" sweepstakes, attempting to tie in contact lenses, fitness, and beauty. Five first-prize winners will receive an annual supply of J&J's Acuvue contact lenses, and the grand-prize winner will receive a one year membership to a gym of their choice. The sweepstakes runs from January 1, 2011, through February 28, 2011. Consumers can enter to win the "New You" sweepstakes and see official rules at www.eyes4living.com.