Zeiss Secures Partnership with NanoFILM LTD

VALLEY VIEW, OH, Jan. 12 -- Carl Zeiss, Inc. and NanoFILM LTD have announced that Zeiss has established a formal alliance with NanoFILM, including a significant minority equity interest in that company. NanoFILM is pioneering the use of nanotechnology for applications in consumer, medical, and industrial markets. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Carl Zeiss, Inc., the parent company of all the Zeiss companies in North America, sells and services a broad line of optical, scientific, and industrial instruments. The company is part of Carl Zeiss Stiftung, headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany.

As a result of its pioneering work in nanotechnology, NanoFILM has become a leader in high-performance coatings for eyewear lenses and is the leading provider of after-market cleaner to the U.S. eyewear industry.

"NanoFILM has been able to demonstrate the value of nanotechnology through practical applications," said James Kelly, president of Carl Zeiss, Inc. "We expect to broadly adapt this technology in a way that will greatly benefit our customers."

Zeiss, a development partner in certain NanoFILM products, will use a precision coating developed by NanoFILM as the foundation for a new generation of optical lenses. According to Zeiss, the coating -- an ultra-thin polymeric film -- provides plastic lens materials with the performance qualities of glass. As a result, says the company, eyeglass users will find the lenses to be more durable and easier to care for.

"The coated lens will be available initially only in the consumer eyewear market through Carl Zeiss Optical and its licensees, but is expected to be eventually adopted by many of the business units of the Carl Zeiss organization," said Edward Greene, president of Carl Zeiss Optical, the consumer eyewear unit of Carl Zeiss, Inc.

As part of the equity arrangement, Carl Zeiss will establish a research facility at NanoFILM's headquarters in Valley View, OH, near Cleveland. NanoFILM, a privately held company with about 35 employees, will establish a laboratory at the Zeiss facility in Aalen, Germany.

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