U.S. Patent 8348129 was awarded to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. on 2013-01-08 and describes a “Surgical stapler having a closure mechanism.” This patent has been cited 291 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 stapler comprising a first handle portion comprising a staple cartridge channel configured to receive a staple cartridge and a second handle portion comprising an anvil. The stapler further comprises a rotatable latch and a latch projection, wherein the latch is rotatably coupled to one of the first handle portion and the second handle portion and wherein the latch projection extends from the other of the first handle portion and the second handle portion. The latch is configured to engage the latch projection to move the first handle portion and the second handle portion toward one another. In various embodiments, the latch projection comprises a rotatable bearing wherein the latch is configured to contact the rotatable bearing when the latch engages the latch projection. Link: U.S. Patent 8348129

This patent was originally filed on 2009-11-19 which gives it a processing time of 1146 days, compared to an average processing time of 1080 in the field. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. has 2128 total patents. The first named inventor is James J. Bedi of Cincinnati, OH. The primary examiner was Brian D Nash.

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