U.S. Patent 8267946 was awarded to Tyco Healthcare Group LP on 2012-09-18 and describes a “Endoscopic surgical clip applier.” This patent has been cited 244 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 apparatus for application of surgical clips to body tissue includes an actuator at least partially disposed within a body and longitudinally movable in response to actuation of a handle portion. The apparatus includes a jaw closure member positioned adjacent the first and second jaw portions to move the jaw portions to the approximated position and a rack having ratchet teeth connected to the actuator. The apparatus includes a pawl engaging a series of ratchet teeth and capable of preventing an inadvertent return of the actuator before full actuation of the apparatus. A clip pusher incrementally moves distally each time a clip is released from the apparatus. When the clip pusher reaches a predetermined distal point in a clip carrying channel, a feed bar is deflected to a second position to prevent retraction but not advancement of the actuator and thereby manipulates the pawl to engage the ratchet teeth. Link: U.S. Patent 8267946

This patent was originally filed on 2010-10-13 which gives it a processing time of 706 days, compared to an average processing time of 1175 in the field. Tyco Healthcare Group LP has 1168 total patents. The first named inventor is Gregory L. Sorrentino of Nether Providence Township, PA. The primary examiner was Tuan V Nguyen.

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