Olympus America Inc. and Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, Jena, Germany, have signed a nonexclusive worldwide licensing agreement allowing 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.

“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.

Burklow continued, “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 handling of digital data has become a major driver of the development of modern microscopy,” said Dr. Bernhard Ohnesorge, Member of the Board and General Manager BioSciences Division of Carl Zeiss Microscopy.

Dr. Ohnesorge continued, “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.”

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