U.S. Patent 7857186 was awarded to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. on 2010-12-28 and describes a “Surgical stapler having an intermediate closing position.” This patent has been cited 429 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 instrument including first and second jaw members which can be pivotably connected to each other and secured in position relative to each other by a latch. The first and second jaw members can include first and second locking members which can allow the first and second jaw members to be rotated relative to one another but prevent, or at least inhibit, the first and second jaw members from being separated from one another. Such embodiments may be particularly useful in circumstances when the latch is in a partially-closed position and the first and second jaw members are being manipulated to position tissue therebetween. The first and second jaw members can be sufficiently connected together in order to prevent, or at least reduce the possibility of, the first and second jaw members from becoming detached from one another and exposing a cutting member. Link: U.S. Patent 7857186

This patent was originally filed on 2008-09-19 which gives it a processing time of 830 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 James J. Bedi of Cincinnati, OH. The primary examiner was Brian D Nash.

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