U.S. Patent 8393513 was awarded to Covidien LP on 2013-03-12 and describes a “Surgical stapling apparatus including an anvil and cartridge each having cooperating mating surfaces.” This patent has been cited 265 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:

Surgical stapling apparatus are disclosed including an anvil having a working surface with a shaped topography, and a staple cartridge, in juxtaposition with the anvil. The staple cartridge includes a working surface with shaped topography which is complementary to the shaped topography of the working surface of the shaped anvil. When the anvil and the staple cartridge are approximated with or toward one another, at least a portion of the working surface of the anvil cooperates with at least a portion of the working surface of the staple cartridge to enhance alignment of the staple cartridge and the anvil in at least one of a transverse and longitudinal direction. Link: U.S. Patent 8393513

This patent was originally filed on 2008-01-09 which gives it a processing time of 1889 days, compared to an average processing time of 1097 in the field. Covidien LP has 3582 total patents. The first named inventor is Bruce K. Jankowski of Meriden, CT. The primary examiner was M. Alexandra Elve.

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