Bausch Lomb

Bausch & Lomb has produced contact lenses since 1971, beginning with the Soflens line of contacts. This was a softer lens than previously produced by competitors and a staple contact lens for wearers for many years. Purevision lenses are also produced by Bausch and Lomb, and have become more popular in recent years

Bausch & Lomb started operations in 1853 in Rochester, New York as a precision optics manufacturer, and making vulcanized rubber eyeglasses frames. The company continued in optics business manufacturing microscopes, binoculars, camera shutters, and sunglasses for the American military. Bausch and Lomb sold the high-end sunglasses division, Ray-Ban, in 1999. In 2002, a US Federal Judge ruled that Baush & Lomb Purevision product infringed on Novartis patents. In 2004, Bausch & Lomb announced it would pay royalties to the Novartis subsidiary Ciba Vision on sales of Purevision products sold in the USA until 2014 and outside the USA until 2016.