The Microscopy Group of Carl Zeiss AG has sublicensed various patents for laser scanning microscopy to Prairie Technologies Inc. of Madison, Wis. The patents protect the use of ultrashort laser pulses in the femtosecond range for multiphoton fluorescence excitation in laser scanning microscopy, a technology that enables high depth of penetration in an object being examined. The Jena, Germany, company acquired the rights to the microscopy method from Cornell Research Foundation of Ithaca, N.Y., in 2004.