U.S. Patent 7722607 was awarded to Covidien AG on 2010-05-25 and describes a “In-line vessel sealer and divider.” This patent has been cited 293 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 endoscopic forceps includes a housing having a shaft attached thereto, the shaft including a pair of jaw members disposed at a distal end thereof. The forceps also includes a drive assembly disposed in the housing which moves the jaw members relative to one another from a first position wherein the jaw members are disposed in spaced relation relative to one another to a second position wherein the jaw members are closer to one another for manipulating tissue. A pair of handles is operatively connected to the drive assembly and the handles are movable relative to the housing to actuate the drive assembly to move the jaw members. Each of the jaw members is adapted to connect to a source of electrical energy such that the jaw members are capable of conducting energy for treating tissue. The forceps also includes a first switch disposed on the housing which is activatable to selectively deliver energy of a first electrical potential to at least one jaw member for treating tissue in a monopolar fashion. A second switch is disposed on the housing and is activatable to selectively deliver energy of a first electrical potential to one jaw member and selectively deliver energy of a second electrical potential to the other jaw member for treating tissue in a bipolar fashion. Link: U.S. Patent 7722607

This patent was originally filed on 2006-11-08 which gives it a processing time of 1294 days, compared to an average processing time of 1933 in the field. Covidien AG has 395 total patents. The first named inventor is Patrick L. Dumbauld of Lyons, CO. The primary examiner was Michael Peffley.

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