Navitar Inc. announced a new
licensing agreement with Carl Zeiss MicroImaging GmbH. Under the terms of the
contract, Carl Zeiss will license Navitar’s Hoffman Modulation Contrast (HMC)
trademark for use in their iHMC product line. Zeiss will manufacture
objectives, modulators, slit apertures, and condensers using the HMC
technology, and distribute and sell them under the iHMC name.

Hoffman Modulation Contrast
technology, originally developed and patented by Robert Hoffman, PhD, 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 assets of Modulation Optics, located in Glen Cove,
N.Y. Prior to the acquisition by Navitar, Modulation Optics partnered with
Research Instruments Limited (RI) of the U.K., 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,” remarks Julian Goldstein, co-president of Navitar. “Navitar
is pleased to partner with such a major player in the world of optics.”

Carl Zeis MicroImaging
GmbH, www.zeiss.com