Nike Introduces New Line of Running Eyewear

Nike Vision's Spring 2016 Running Collection has five new styles. Designed specifically for runners, the Spring 2016 assortment is a collaboration among Nike Vision,  Zeiss, and VSP Global's lab The Shop. The new construction method is said to seamlessly fuse the lens material with the frame to increase coverage and offer eyewear that is lighter than the average performance product on the market today. To bring this revolutionary collection to life, Nike Vision partnered with industry leader ZEISS to work outside the constraints of traditional eyewear manufacturing. The Nike + ZEISS partnership started from scratch to manufacture a new lens from a custom mold. Once developed, the mold was refined using ultra-precise machinery with diamond-polishing technology to polish the complex lens shape down to the nanometer, according to the company website. The end result is a lightweight, state-of-the-art lens that maximizes coverage and provides optimum clarity to allow athletes to perform at the highest level. Read more.

China Reportedly Fines Essilor, Johnson & Johnson, Meditec, Valeant, Bausch & Lomb, Zeiss, and Nikon

People's Republic of China Emblem (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"China on Thursday fined several foreign eyewear makers more than 19 million yuan ($3.1 million) for 'price manipulation,' the government said, in the latest targeting of overseas firms in the giant market," according to Yahoo! News Singapore. "The powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, launched an investigation last August into alleged violations of anti-monopoly law in the sector, the agency said in a statement. Five companies -- all foreign -- were given penalties ranging from 1.7 million yuan to 8.8 million yuan, it said. They included units of France's Essilor, Germany's Carl Zeiss, and Japan's Nikon Optical, as well as Bausch & Lomb and Johnson & Johnson -- both of the United States -- according to the statement." In other news stories, Meditec and Valeant Pharmaceuticals were also said to have been fined. Read more.

Ocuco Requests Re-Examination of Zeiss “Freeform” Patent

Ocuco Inc. has filed a re-examination request with the U.S. Patent office, seeking re-examination of Carl Zeiss Vision’s Patent 6,089,713, which claims the invention of back-surface progressive lenses. A “re-examination” is an administrative procedure established in the patent regulations that allows any person to request that the Patent Office reconsider its grant of a patent, based on  “substantial new issues of patentability”, which the requester must clearly set out. Read more.

Back in summer, Zeiss won a lawsuit about protecting its patent from use by others. See the results.

Zeiss Expands Intraocular Lens Manufacturing Abilities

Through its subsidiary Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc., Carl Zeiss Meditec AG has acquired, 100% of the shares in Aaren Scientific Inc., a US-based manufacturer of intraocular lenses (IOLs). Aaren Scientific, Ontario, CA, has been manufacturing IOLs for more than two decades. The majority of shares in Aaren Scientific had previously been owned by a private investment company as well as other investors, including the CEO and co-founder of Aaren Scientific, Rick Aguilera, who along with the entire management team will stay on board after the transaction. Read more.

Zeiss Opens Vision Research Lab at University of Tubingen

“The Zeiss Vision Science Lab opened on Thursday is an additional "Industry on Campus" workgroup at the University of Tübingen. As part of the Excellence Initiative, new collaborative projects with industry are being launched here at the interface between basic research and application orientation,” reports Glass on the Web. "Together with the University of Tübingen, Zeiss is now founding a research laboratory that will investigate this complex interaction. The goal of the Zeiss Vision Science Lab is to gain an understanding of the development of vision, of the interaction of light with the eye and the eyeglass lens, and of the processing of the image in the brain in many different and dynamic situations and, on this basis, to develop new ways of providing natural, optimized vision to each individual wearer. Another item on its agenda is to research into the development of vision and into pathological changes to perception in order to enable their diagnosis by using suitable measuring methods at an early stage. For these patients, this could result in personalized solutions for enhanced vision.” Read more.

Google Institutes Learning Centers for Google Glass Users

"New Google Glass users will no longer need to head to one of the company's offices to pick up the eyewear, but they will need to sit through a Hangout session before they can use it," according to a post on CNET. "According to Android Central, folks who join the Google Glass Explorer Program and purchase the eyewear will now have their product shipped to them. Before they start using the tech, however, they will need to sit through a Google+ Hangout with an 'experienced Glass Guide.'" Read more.

Google reportedly will release the augmented reality eyewear next year with a price tag of $1500. Microsoft is testing its AR eyewear (click for details), and others manufacturers are coming out with the their versions (click for details).

The software company also has hooked up with Maui Jim and Zeiss to provide "shades" for its eyewear. It has an "installation" guide here.  It also noted that an individual could purchase them at the Google Store, but when the link was clicked at press time, a 404 error page popped up.

Zeiss Introduces New Self-Tinting Lenses

"Up to 40 percent of eyeglass wearers are interested in self-tinting lenses, according to an international Carl Zeiss Vision study of 5,800 eyeglass wearers," starts a post by Reuters. "Yet despite high consumer interest, only about 20 percent of eyeglass wearers purchase self-tinting lenses. Many consumers hold back because they want lenses that darken and clear faster. To meet this need, ZEISS, a leader in precision optics for over 160 years, has introduced a new self-tinting lens called PhotoFusion," which reportedly darken and clear faster than previous self-tinting Zeiss lenses. Read more.