U.S. Patent 7798386 was awarded to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. on 2010-09-21 and describes a “Surgical instrument articulation joint cover.” This patent has been cited 563 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 instrument including a shaft, an end effector, and a joint, wherein the end effector can be moved relative to the shaft about the joint. In various embodiments, the joint can include a cover configured to be positioned intermediate the end effector and the shaft. In at least one embodiment, the cover can be connected to at least one of the end effector and the shaft and can be configured to at least partially surround the joint in order to prevent soft tissue positioned adjacent to the joint from being pulled into and/or pinched by the joint. Link: U.S. Patent 7798386

This patent was originally filed on 2008-02-14 which gives it a processing time of 950 days, compared to an average processing time of 1097 in the field. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. has 2128 total patents. The first named inventor is Joshua R. Uth of Mason, OH. The primary examiner was Brian D Nash.

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