U.S. Patent 8424737 was awarded to Covidien LP on 2013-04-23 and describes a “Rotating knob locking mechanism for surgical stapling device.” This patent has been cited 240 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:

A surgical stapling device having a rotating knob locking mechanism, and a method of using the surgical stapling device is disclosed. The surgical stapling device includes a housing, an actuation member, an elongated body portion rotatably supported on the housing, and a locking mechanism for preventing the rotation of the elongate body portion, the locking mechanism being automatically engaged upon actuation of the actuation member. The stapling device further includes a knob for rotating the elongated body portion. The locking mechanism includes a pivotably mounted member configured to engage the knob. The stapling device may further include an articulating tool assembly and an articulation lever for articulating the tool assembly. The articulation lever may be disposed on the knob for rotating the elongated body portion. Link: U.S. Patent 8424737

This patent was originally filed on 2009-06-04 which gives it a processing time of 1419 days, compared to an average processing time of 1080 in the field. Covidien LP has 3582 total patents. The first named inventor is Paul A. Scirica of Huntington, NY. The assistant examiner was Gloria R Weeks.

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