U.S. Patent 8348127 was awarded to Covidien LP on 2013-01-08 and describes a “Surgical fastener applying apparatus.” This patent has been cited 305 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 fastener cartridge is provided and includes a cartridge body having a plurality of surgical fasteners operatively disposed therein. An actuation mechanism is housed within the cartridge body and includes a plurality of pushers operably associated with the plurality of surgical fasteners. The actuation mechanism includes a plurality of pivotably connected link assemblies. Each link assembly being pivotably engaged with a corresponding bottom surface associated with each the pushers and a corresponding top surface associated with an internal channel housing and operably coupled to one another. The actuation mechanism includes an activation structure configured to move each of the link assemblies and sequentially cause each of the link assemblies to move through a succession of motions within the cartridge body, such that the link assemblies cause the corresponding pusher to contact and, subsequently, sequentially eject the associated surgical fastener towards the depression in the anvil. Link: U.S. Patent 8348127

This patent was originally filed on 2010-04-07 which gives it a processing time of 1007 days, compared to an average processing time of 983 in the field. Covidien LP has 3582 total patents. The first named inventor is Stanislaw Z. Marczyk of Stratford, CA. The primary examiner was Robert Long.

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