Lens patent challenged by Ocuco

A request submitted by Ocuco for a re-examination of Carl Zeiss Vision’s 6,089,713 freeform back-side progressive lens patent has been granted by the US Patent Office.

Ocuco said there were substantial new questions of patentability in all of the claims in the Zeiss patent and filed the request last autumn (News 20.09.13).

‘If we succeed, it will mean significant savings for our customers, but this is only the first hurdle our re-examination request had to clear,’ said Ocuco president Robert Shanbaum.

‘Now it will be up to the Patent Office and the patentee to put the information we’ve raised to the test. If the Patent Office agrees with our analysis, the ultimate outcome still may not be determined for a year, maybe even a little longer,’ he added.