U.S. Patent 7959050 was awarded to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. on 2011-06-14 and describes a “Electrically self-powered surgical instrument with manual release.” This patent has been cited 470 times by other U.S. patents which places it in the top 500 cited patents since 2010 according to our law firm research, and makes it of the most innovative medical technology patents in the field of instruments. The abstract states:

An electrically operated surgical instrument includes a surgical end effector having an actuation assembly effecting a surgical procedure when actuated and a handle connected to the end effector for actuating the assembly. A part of the assembly moves between start and fully actuated positions. The handle has a self-contained power supply and a drive assembly disposed entirely within the handle. The drive assembly has an electrically powered motor and a controller electrically connected to the power supply and to the motor. The controller selectively operates the motor. A transmission mechanically connects the motor to the moving part and selectively displaces the moving part anywhere between the start and fully extended positions when the motor is operated. A manual release is mechanically coupled to the transmission to selectively interrupt the transmission and, during interruption, displaces the moving part towards the start position independent of motor operation. Link: U.S. Patent 7959050

This patent was originally filed on 2008-10-03 which gives it a processing time of 984 days, compared to an average processing time of 1097 in the field. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. has 2128 total patents. The first named inventor is Thomas O. Bales, Jr. of Miami, FL. The primary examiner was Scott A. Smith.

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