Navitar grants Hoffman Modulation Contrast trademark license to Carl Zeiss
Rochester, NY--Navitar, producer of high‐magnification imaging optics, precision laser optical assemblies, and custom microscopy systems for automated medical and biophotonics processes including flow cytometry, live cell analysis, fluorescence imaging, DNA sequencing, in vitro fertilization, stem cell imaging, and two‐photon microscopy, has licensed its Hoffman Modulation Contrast (HMC) trademark to Carl Zeiss MicroImaging GmbH (Jena, Germany). The contract terms state that Carl Zeiss will manufacture objectives, modulators, slit apertures, and condensers using the HMC technology, and distribute and sell them under the iHMC name.
According to Navitar, Hoffman Modulation Contrast technology--originally developed and patented by Dr. Robert Hoffman back in 1975--has become the world’s most widely used light microscopy contrast method for viewing colorless and transparent biological specimens. Navitar is the sole owner of the HMC trademark due to its recent acquisition of the assets of Modulation Optics (Glen Cove, NY). Prior to the acquisition by Navitar, Modulation Optics partnered with Research Instruments Limited (RI; Falmouth, England) to combine the imaging capabilities of HMC technology with RI’s instruments for Intracytoplasmic Morphologically-selected Sperm Injection (IMSI) in the development of the optics for RI IMSI.
"Zeiss’ licensing of the Hoffman Modulation Contrast mark reinforces the importance of this brand to the fields of biotechnology and medical research," says Julian Goldstein, co-president of Navitar. "Navitar is pleased to partner with such a major player in the world of optics." Carl Zeiss MicroImaging is a subsidiary of Carl Zeiss AG that manufactures microscope systems for biomedical research and the healthcare and high-tech sectors.
SOURCE: Navitar; www.navitar.com
Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)
Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.