Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH and Olympus America Inc. have
signed a nonexclusive worldwide licensing agreement allowing Carl Zeiss to
access an extensive portfolio of patents held by Olympus in the field of
digital pathology and virtual microscopy. The patents included in the licensing
deal cover methods and equipment for creating, storing, and delivering virtual
microscopy slides. The technology enables individuals to view and share
high-resolution virtual microscopy images over the Internet.

“The handling of digital data has become a major driver
of the development of modern microscopy,” said Bernhard Ohnesorge, PhD, Member
of the Board and General Manager BioSciences Division of Carl Zeiss Microscopy,
“Integrating the virtual slide functionality into our research microscope
systems will enable our customers to become more efficient and to explore new
scientific approaches. This will help them to better understand the root causes
of the most challenging diseases.”

“Global adoption of digital slide scanning continues to
expand into new medical and scientific applications,” said Brad Burklow,
executive director business development, Scientific Equipment Group, Olympus
Corporation of the Americas. “Olympus is the holder of many important patents
in this area, and we feel it is vital to allow broad access to these
technologies in order to advance the field of pathology and medical research.
We are confident that leveraging these technologies will enhance healthcare for
patients around the world.”

The companies are not making specific terms and conditions
of the agreement public.

Carl
Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, www.zeiss.de/micro