U.S. Patent 8409222 was awarded to Covidien LP on 2013-04-02 and describes a “Endoscopic surgical clip applier.” This patent has been cited 242 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 has a handle portion and a body extending distally from the handle portion and defining a longitudinal axis. The apparatus also has a plurality of surgical clips disposed within the body, and a jaw assembly mounted adjacent a distal end portion of the body. The jaw assembly includes first and second jaw portions movable between a spaced-apart and an approximated position. The apparatus also has a wedge plate longitudinally movable between the first and the second jaw portions, and a clip pusher configured to individually distally advance a surgical clip to the jaw assembly while the jaw portions are in the spaced apart position. The apparatus still further has an actuator at least partially disposed within the body and longitudinally movable in response to actuation of the handle portion and a jaw closure member positioned adjacent the first and second jaw portions to move the jaw portions to the approximated position. Link: U.S. Patent 8409222

This patent was originally filed on 2009-03-18 which gives it a processing time of 1476 days, compared to an average processing time of 1396 in the field. Covidien LP has 3582 total patents. The first named inventor is Gregory L. Sorrentino of Nether Providence Township, PA. The primary examiner was Gary Jackson.

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