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ARBO Study Reveals Contact Lens Complications
WASHINGTON, DC., 04-13-2004 The Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry (ARBO) has released initial
results of its initiative to document complications caused by contact lenses dispensed without a valid prescription.
The organization started this program a year ago to help the state attorneys general, the FDA and the FTC better
understand the extent and severity of such complications.
ARBO received 116 reports in 2003. The most common signs and symptoms were stinging, neovazcularization,
foreign body sensation, burning and corneal edema. Six percent of patients experienced permanent vision loss and
five percent have permanent scarring. The most common treatment plan was topical antibacterial/anti-inflammatory
medications.
ARBO feels that these results indicate the need for further documentation and reminds practitioners that the
success of the program is only as good as practitioner participation in adverse event reporting. You can report
complications that resulted from contact lenses purchased without a valid prescription by downloading ARBO's
Contact lens Complication Form at www.arbo.org, completing it and returning it to ARBO. ARBO compiles the
information for this ongoing study and will periodically update it Summary of Results through its Web site and
through articles in professional and trade journals.
Focus on Eye Style' to Debut at Vision Expo East
NORWALK, Conn., 02-25-2004 International Vision Expo has announced it will be co-hosting the first
"Focus on Eye Style," a panel that will discuss how fashion, media, and celebrities influence current eyewear trends.
The free panel, which is being co-hosted by In Style magazine and the Accessories Council, will be held
Friday, March 26, at the Javits Convention Center in New York during International Vision Expo East. The panel
 will include fashion industry insiders, including Reed Krakoff president and executive creative director of Coach,
VH1's Pilar Chira Steinborn, Alice Kim--senior accessories editor at In Style magazine, and Robert Marc--the
New York-based optician, designer, and retailer. The event offers one free credit hour of CE for ECPs and is ABO
 pending.
A new case of counterfeit contact lenses
FRANCE, 02-25-2004 The second case of counterfeit contact lenses in France within two weeks: this time the victim is Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and its Surevue lenses, which represent around 20% of the French market for frequent-change lenses.
According to reports by Acuité, as in the case of CooperVision, the discovery was made after some opticians had returned packs of lenses to have the dioptric strength changed. This was how a wholesaler realized they were fakes: they were in the old square-shaped packs which were no longer produced after end 2003. In addition, the letter “D” and the “hourglass” pictogram on all the new J&J packs are missing from the fake packs.
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care alerted the Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Produits de Santé (Afssaps, the French association for the safety of health products) and it is checking batches to stop delivery to opticians immediately. In the next few hours, further steps will be taken to inform retailers and consumers.
 Record seizures of counterfeit Oakley products in 2003
WASHINGTON, DC., 02-18-2004 In its ongoing campaign to identify and aggressively pursue violators of
its protected designs and trademarks, Oakley has highlighted the results of its 2003 anti-counterfeiting efforts.
Working closely with a wide variety of local, national and international law enforcement agencies, Oakley's legal
 team oversaw the confiscation of 2,739,754 fake Oakley products, primarily sunglasses, worldwide in 2003, with
 an estimated street value totaling more than $27 million. This represents a 156 percent increase over the 1,071,755
 products confiscated the previous year. For the year there were 447 total worldwide arrests of individuals
 participating in the sale of such fakes, 111 of whom were outside the U.S.
This was due in large part to the company's stronger efforts to educate and train law enforcement agencies worldwide
 resulting in more arrests against counterfeiters in important international markets.
Oakley's enforcement efforts also succeeded in limiting the illegal sale of products over the Internet. More than 20,000
 auctions, including auctions on eBay.com and yahoo.com, were shut down, deleted, or otherwise cleansed of counterfeit
 Oakley products. Violations included auctions of counterfeit merchandise, auctions showing Oakley's copyrighted
 images and auctions violating policies involving key word spamming, a practice involving the misuse of the name
 "Oakley" to draw attention to an auction. Total restitution collected in 2003 was more than $220,000 and will be used
 to further Oakley's anti-counterfeiting operations in this ongoing battle to protect the Oakley brand.
Contact lenses counterfeited in France
ROCHESTER, NY., 02-13-2004 CooperVision has reported to the Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Produits de Santé (Afssaps, the French association for the safety of health products) that there are counterfeit Proclear Compatible contact lenses on the market. After receiving various complaints from opticians, whose customers were complaining about problems with the comfort of contact lenses, CooperVision realized it was dealing with a case of counterfeiting and reported it to the health authorities in accordance with French law. Apparently, the packaging of the counterfeit lenses is larger (12.5 cm against the 11 cm of the originals) than that used by CooperVision. The company is writing to all its customers (distributors and opticians) advising them of the situation and asking them to stop selling the counterfeit lenses in their possession immediately and to send the lenses to the company's laboratories so that they can carry out all the necessary controls.
CooperVision Launches the e-commerce coopervision.com for practitioners
ROCHESTER, NY., Aug. 19, 2003 - CooperVision, Inc., is proud to announce the launch of the all-new, Web site, coopervision.com. The enhanced site has a new section, My CooperVision, that allows quicker ordering with state-of-the-art technology for faster processing. The site features easier navigation, with an easy-to-use interface employing improved logic.
Beyond the e-commerce enhancements, the new site includes updated clinical information, an expanded patient site, more extensive product information, online marketing materials, updated fitting calculators, and new program downloads.
“We are very excited about the new CooperVision Web site,” says Mark Bertolin, director, CooperVision Internet Marketing.” The new Web site offers practitioners improved e-commerce functionality, a vast array of new and improved fitting tools, product information, and more.”
coopervision.com offers an extensive index of materials, improving the efficiency of practices worldwide.
Vistakon Files Against CIBA for New Technology
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sep. 20, 2003-Vistakon has filed for a declaratory judgment against CIBA Vision regarding a new Vistakon product, Acuvue Advance, which is currently waiting for final U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance. According to Vistakon, when launched the lens will set a new standard by offering a unique silicone-hydrogel formulation that allows for greater oxygen permeability. "Vistakon recognizes that CIBA has a patent portfolio covering their silicone-hydrogel technology. We are confident that Acuvue Advance's technology is outside the scope of [CIBA] patents" a Vistakon statement said. Vistakon has asked the court to affirm that Acuvue Advance will not infringe CIBA Vision's patent portfolio by seeking a declaratory judgment.
B&L Wins European Patent Dispute
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Sep. 17, 2003-Bausch & Lomb has prevailed in a European patent infringement suit against Novartis AG, the parent company of CIBA Vision, regarding extended-wear contact lens technology. Lawsuits filed by Novartis in Germany and Ireland had claimed that B&Ls PureVision CL technology infringed on a patent for its silicone-hydrogel contact-lens technology. As a result of the ruling, B&L will immediately pursue selling its PureVision CLs in Germany and will ask the Irish court to stay the Novartis patent proceeding against B&L in that country.
Vision Canada 2004 Changes Show Dates
TORONTO, Aug. 28, 2003-Vision Canada , along with its partner Silmo, has moved the dates of its 2004 trade show one week ahead to September 18 and 19, citing conflicts with other major optical events. The show is still in the 50,000-sq.-ft. Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Information on the event will be shown in the news page in the near future.

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