U.S. Patent 8360299 was awarded to Covidien LP on 2013-01-29 and describes a “Surgical stapling apparatus.” This patent has been cited 254 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 apparatus having a housing with an actuator and an elongated member extending from the housing. An end effector is disposed on one end of the elongated member. The end effector houses a plurality of fasteners that are operatively coupled to a plurality of pusher members. An actuation mechanism is operatively coupled to the actuator; the actuation mechanism includes a longitudinally translatable drive member and an actuation sled. The actuation sled is configured for engaging the plurality of pusher members. A pressure responsive element is also disposed in one of the jaws. The pressure responsive element communicates a signal to a controller. The signal is representative of pressure applied to the pressure responsive element. The controller is configured to activate a feedback response. Link: U.S. Patent 8360299

This patent was originally filed on 2010-06-08 which gives it a processing time of 966 days, compared to an average processing time of 983 in the field. Covidien LP has 3582 total patents. The first named inventor is Michael A. Zemlok of Prospect, PA. The primary examiner was Scott A. Smith.

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