O.D. NOTEBOOK

Optometric Management, Jul 2006

* Eyemaginations, Inc., announced the appointment of Christie S. Rudolph as national sales director. Ms. Rudolph will be responsible for all U.S. sales of the Eyemaginations in-office software products. Prior to joining Eyemaginations, Rudolph was the national sales manager for Silhouette Optical.

* Allergan and Syntex won a patent infringement lawsuit that prevents Apotex and Novex Pharma from marketing a copy of Allergen's non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, ACULAR (ketorolac tromethamine ophthalmic solution) 0.5%. Apotex and Novex may not introduce a copy of the drug before 2009.

* Contact lens distributor Imperial Optical has entered into an agreement with Strategic Lens Innovations to market and distribute the Solus line of contact lenses directly to U.S. eyecare professionals.

* Luxottica announced it will purchase Canada's 74 Shoppers Optical stores and convert them to the Pearle Vision brand. Pearle will become the leading optical chain in Canada with a total of 268 stores.

* Optos pic won the United Kingdom's most prestigious engineering innovation accolade, The Royal Academy of Engineering 2006 MacRobert Award. The Award recognizes the role of engineering in wealth creation, national prosperity and international prestige.

* On behalf of Blanchard Contact Lens and Rose K International, Jean Blanchard recently made a $10,000 donation to the National Keratoconus Foundation in support of the non-profit organization's patient outreach and educational programs.

* ABB Optical has launched an on-line lens ordering web site, www.abboptical.com. The service extends Internet access beyond the VisionWeb and Eyefinity portals that have served ABB accounts for several years and remain available to ABB customers.