Brand Name Ophthalmic Lens Product

[DocInChina]

In the US there are authorized Essilor, Hoya and Zeiss Labs. There are also labs that sell product from the above companies but are not recognized by Essilor, Hoya or Zeiss as "authorized" or affiliated labs. Is there any legal issue for these surfacing labs that are not "authorized" that should prevent them from selling the brand name product to their customers?

[LKahn]

As long as the seller of a product is selling the genuine product, a vendor can not prevent it from being sold. The Sherman Anti-Trust act addresses this issue.

[Grubendol]

Sherman Act was repealed by Reagan in the mid 80's

[LKahn]

Only a portion of the Sherman Anti-Trust act was repealed.

[fjpod]

I was told once that if one purchased Essilor product from other than an Essilor approved lab, that in the event of a consumer lawsuit, they would not help out.

Don't know how important that is...but it might look bad in a court of law, that the product was not genuine and fabricated to unknown standards, etc.

[DocInChina]

I was told once that if one purchased Essilor product from other than an Essilor approved lab, that in the event of a consumer lawsuit, they would not help out.

Don't know how important that is...but it might look bad in a court of law, that the product was not genuine and fabricated to unknown standards, etc.

This is a sales/marketing strategy more than anything else. All lab suppliers must adhere to FDA and ANSI standards so regardless of who you buy any ophthalmic lens product from they would have to meet those standards in the US market. Does this mean that Essilor produces lenses inferior to other lens companies that only an Essilor approved lab has the special know how to work with their inferior product? Obviously not.

Most opitcians and optometrist that I know check the ophthalmic lens product they receive from labs to make sure they were made correctly. This includes base curves, center thickness, Rx, etc.

[Chris Ryser]

Most opitcians and optometrist that I know check the ophthalmic lens product they receive from labs to make sure they were made correctly. This includes base curves, center thickness, Rx, etc.


Doc.................All of us who have been around for while know that a lens is a generic item that has to contain what you describe above.

It just comes to my mind that the chinese made lenses long before the north american continent was discovered and the French registered a patent on the guillotine to get rid of the unwanted.

Lenses have always been advertised with brand names to the optical trade as the Tyllier lenses by AO, the Panoptic by B&L, the Zeiss Punktal and Umbral and many more.

These days the large optical corporations, after having made tons of money by selling specially progressive lenses at exessively high prices, have the bucks to brainwash not only the optical professionals who love the high prices but also the public who then asks for those particular brands.

These corporations actually step right over the visual specialist, which is the optical retailer, to entice the end user into purchasing their goodies.

Today and even more in the near future the optical retail market will maybe wake up to the fact that the heavily advertised brand names are not any better than their generic equivalents. It is the retailer that has to understand the facts, and educate their customers that the difference in design and quality is only the name for which they pay 50% of the total cost. :finger:

[LKahn]

If you invent something, get a patent and spend a great deal of money to bring it to market, you should be entitled to make good money on your invention. If someone comes up with a generic version which is similar, but, does not violate the patent, they too should be rewarded for there inventive skills. In the pharmaceutical industry this happens every day. Generally the consumer prefers a brand name. How many use a generic toothpaste? Most use Crest or another brand name.