U.S. Patent 8393514 was awarded to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. on 2013-03-12 and describes a “Selectively orientable implantable fastener cartridge.” This patent has been cited 364 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 fastener cartridge can comprise a compressible, collapsible, and/or crushable cartridge body and fasteners embedded within the cartridge body which can be utilized to fasten tissue. In use, the fastener cartridge can be positioned in a first jaw of a surgical fastening device, wherein the first jaw can be positioned opposite a second jaw, or anvil. The anvil can be engaged with the fastener cartridge to compress, collapse, and/or crush the cartridge body and deform, or otherwise deploy, the fasteners contained therein. As the fasteners are deformed or deployed, the fasteners can capture at least a portion of the cartridge body therein along with at least a portion of the tissue being fastened. In various embodiments, the fastener cartridge and/or the first jaw can comprise retention features which can allow the fastener cartridge to be selectively inserted into the first jaw in a first orientation or a second orientation. Link: U.S. Patent 8393514

This patent was originally filed on 2010-09-30 which gives it a processing time of 894 days, compared to an average processing time of 983 in the field. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. has 2128 total patents. The first named inventor is Gary W. Knight of Westchester, IL. The primary examiner was Scott A. Smith.

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