Oakley to Sell High-Tech Lenses to Frame Maker

In a departure from its normal business strategy, Oakley Inc. said Monday it will sell its high-tech lenses to frame maker Signature Eyewear for a new line of sunglasses.

Inglewood-based Signature will use the lenses to make Eddie Bauer sunglasses, which will be available for sale early next year.

The agreement is unusual for Oakley, which fiercely guards the technology used in its products. The Foothill Ranch-based company is embroiled in several lawsuits with other companies over those companies’ alleged use of Oakley’s patented technology.

“It’s important for us to protect it,” spokeswoman Renee Law said Monday. “And we appreciate partners that want to legitimately incorporate this technology in their line.”

Oakley will make the lenses at its factory and sell them to Signature. Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed, and Law declined say how the new venture might impact Oakley’s bottom line.

The company does not plan to hire more workers to make the additional lenses, she said.

“We expect to be able to manufacture the lenses at a time when we’re traditionally in a slower season,” she said. “So it will help us to keep a more stable work force at Oakley too.”

The venture is not expected to diminish sales of Oakley’s own brand because the two companies target different customers.

Oakley currently has no plans to strike similar agreements with other companies, Law said. “We’re taking it one step at a time,” she said. “We’re happy to start with this.”

The eye wear will be available with prescription and nonprescription lenses and will be distributed through opticians, optometrists, ophthalmologists and national optical retail chains.

Eddie Bauer, a subsidiary of Illinois-based Spiegel Inc., is a retailer of outdoor apparel and accessories.

Oakley’s stock closed Monday at $7.19, up 31 cents a share, in New York Stock Exchange trading.