Leica, Olympus pair up

Wetzlar, Germany-Leica Microsystems GmbH now has access to the portfolio of patents held by Olympus America Inc. in the field of digital pathology and virtual microscopy through a nonexclusive worldwide licensing agreement signed by the two companies.

The patents included in the licensing deal cover methods and equipment for creating, storing, and delivering virtual microscopy slides. The technology enables the viewing and sharing of high-resolution virtual microscopy images over the Internet.

“We believe digital slide scanning will be the fastest-growing segment in microscopy for years to come,” said Stefan Traeger, managing director of Leica’s Life Science Division. “This license agreement will enable us to further expand our offering in this space and to provide our customers around the world with a complete solution from digital scanning of microscopy slides to the handling and management of digital pathology data.”

Osamu Joji, group vice president and general manager of Olympus America’s Scientific Equipment Group, said, “We’ve seen interest in digital slide scanning grow rapidly over the past few years. Olympus is the holder of these important patents, and we feel it is vital to allow broad access to these technologies . . . to advance the field of pathology. Ultimately, we hope that implementing these technologies will help enhance health care for patients around the world.”