Patent ID: 8915591

Claim:
A method for making a colored contact lens, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a mold including a first mold half having a first molding surface defining the anterior surface of a contact lens and a second mold half having a second molding surface defining the posterior surface of the contact lens, wherein the first and second mold halves are configured to receive each other such that a contact lens forming cavity is formed between the first and second molding surfaces; (b) applying, by using pad-transfer or inkjet printing technique, at least one pattern selected from a group consisting of outermost starburst pattern and inner starburst pattern onto at least one of molding surfaces of a lens mold, each of said portions overlapping each other at a plurality of points, (c) applying, by using pad-transfer or inkjet printing technique, an annular colored pattern combining with an outer starburst pattern onto the surface of the mold, where the annular colored pattern and the outer starburst pattern are fused together in a single cliché, wherein the annular pattern is composed of colored dots which are opaque, wherein sizes of the dots and/or amounts of space between the dots of the annular colored pattern are varied in a radially-controlled manner so that local colored dot coverage increases in a radial direction from the inner perimeter of the annular iris section to the outer perimeter of the annular iris section, (d) partially or completely curing the ink printed on the mold to convert the colored coat to a colored film; dispensing a lens-forming material into the lens-forming cavity; and (e) curing the lens-forming material within the lens-forming cavity to form a colored contact lens, whereby the colored film detaches from the molding surface and becomes integral with the body of the contact lens, wherein the colored film becomes part of one of the anterior and posterior surface of the colored contact lens and has a good adhesion to the lens.