Legal & Institutional
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ArticleEssilux backs chief strategy officer Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio amid hacking probe
EssilorLuxottica has expressed its support for Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, its chief strategy officer and the son of the late founder of Luxottica, amid a probe that has seen four individuals placed under arrest and Del Vecchio and dozens of others being investigated by the Milan public prosecutor’s office for ...
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ArticleItalian eyewear industry “strong and resilient” amid market slowdown
Italy’s eyewear industry has seen signs of a slowdown this year, but it is holding up remarkably well. That is clear in Belluno in Italy’s Veneto region, at the heart of the country’s eyewear production district, where factories are operating at full capacity and looking to grow. Lorraine Berton, the ...
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ArticleGoogle takes a seat at AR Alliance’s board, alongside Meta, Essilux and others
The AR Alliance, an international body regrouping companies and organizations in the augmented reality hardware sector, has announced that Google has become a new founding member of the association, taking a seat at its board of directors. The announcement seems to give more substance to speculations that the high-tech giant ...
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Article“We need to train the eyewear factory workers of the future”
During our previous interview with Giovanni Vitolani in December, the president of Mido also shared some thoughts on the state of affairs in the Italian eyewear district and at ANFAO, the Italian eyewear industry association which he led for six years until December last year. “As anticipated after a solid ...
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ArticleANFAO taps Lorraine Berton as new president
Lorraine Berton has been elected as the new president of Italian eyewear association ANFAO, becoming the first woman to hold the position and succeeding Giovanni Vitaloni, who had served as president since 2017. Berton will lead the association for the next four years. Berton is the co-owner along with her ...
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ArticleApple patents adjustable lenses
On July 18 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple a patent – number US 11,703,698 B1 – for “adjustable lens systems.” Source: U.S. patent no. US 11,703,698 B1 As the abstract reads, “eyeglasses may include one or more lenses and control circuitry that adjusts an ...
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ArticleEU publishes alarming counterfeiting survey, ramps up IP platform
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the European office in charge of intellectual property (IP) and anti-counterfeiting, has announced that it is preparing the launch of a new open-source and blockchain-based platform which is aimed at ensuring product authenticity through information sharing at every step of the supply chain. ...
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ArticleFrench opticians release new market data ahead of new health care plan negotiations
As the French government prepares for a new round of discussions with healthcare professionals for an update of its so-called 100% Santé reform, the Rassemblement des Opticiens de France (ROF), the main opticians’ association in the country, has released a new set of data around the implementation of the plan ...
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ArticleDo soft contacts contain PFAS?
An American blog has commissioned a laboratory to test 18 varieties of soft contact lens, from three brands, and found that all contain the same “marker” – an organic fluorine – for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. PFAS are commonly called “forever chemicals,” because they do not break down ...
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ArticleItaly issues €50 contribution for purchase of eyeglasses, contact lenses
Italy is issuing a €50 voucher or reimbursement for the purchase of prescription eyewear and contact lenses for low-income people who request the contribution on a new digital platform. Individuals can ask for the “Bonus Vista” starting May 5, while eyewear sellers have been able to register stores participating in ...
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ArticleHow dirty is greenwashing? A legal perspective
This article will briefly explain the current legal perspective of environmental claims used by corporates to market their products or services, in particular on a business-to-consumer level.
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ArticleEnvironmental sustainability and the eye care industry
Ann Blackmore, a policy and regulatory consultant who has worked for over nine years in the optical sector, considers what concerns around environmental sustainability could mean for the eye care industry and outlines some of the drivers for change. No one can be in any doubt that one of ...
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ArticleUnderstanding the GPSR and what it could mean for EU businesses
Have you heard of the GPSR and do you know what it means for businesses in the EU? We explain the main points every brand needs to know
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ArticleGerman industry association calls for urgent measures to protect SMEs
In a direct address to its national government, German industry association Spectaris is calling for the rapid implementation of a multi-point program to secure the future of healthcare industries in Germany, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are most exposed to the current economic crisis. First and foremost, ...
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ArticleEssilor and EssilorLuxottica fined €81 m by French market watchdog, will appeal
L’Autorité de la Concurrence (AC), the French competition authority, has announced yesterday that it was handing a total of €81 million in fines to Essilor International and its parent company EssilorLuxottica for discriminatory practices between April 2009 and December 2020 in France. The Italo-French group immediately replied that it would ...
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ArticleECOO addresses myopia management and digital eye care
The European Council of Optometry and Optics (ECOO), the umbrella organization for 21 eye care professionals’ (ECPs) national associations, has addressed two currently hot industry topics in a position paper on myopia management and a statement on the digital future of eye health care services. In publishing “Myopia management: a ...
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ArticleJohnson & Johnson Q3 contact lens sales inch up 3.0% as class action litigation settled
Johnson & Johnson saw sales of contact lenses in the third quarter increased by a reported 3.0 percent on the year earlier to $908 million, with a rise at constant-currency rates of 10.8 percent. Growth was driven by a market recovery, price actions and new products like Acuvue Oasys Multifocal ...
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ArticleLuxottica facing €125m penalty from French competition watchdog
L’Autorité de la concurrence, the French market competition regulator, sanctioned Luxottica yesterday with a €125 million penalty for anti-competitive behaviors in France between 2005 and 2014. EssilorLuxottica immediately announced that it would appeal the decision, highlighting that the group had always conducted its business according to the highest standards of ...
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ArticleEU to decide on Essilux's takeover of GrandVision on April 12
The European Commission has set April 12, 2021 as the latest deadline for the end of an in-depth investigation into EssilorLuxottica’s proposed €7.2 billion takeover of GrandVision. The deadline has been postponed several times. The proposed deal, referred to as case M.9569, was notified to the Commission on Dec. 23, ...
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ArticleEU Commission calls to ‘strongly discourage’ intra-EU travel
The European Commission has proposed the European Council to discourage non-essential travel between European Union member states amid high Covid-19 infection rates and concerns about new virus variants, while avoiding border closures or blanket prohibitions that would impede the functioning of the internal market and supply chains. “The Commission proposes ...
