U.S. Patent 8540128 was awarded to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. on 2013-09-24 and describes a “Surgical stapling device with a curved end effector.” This patent has been cited 266 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:

The present invention includes a surgical stapler having a staple cartridge, an anvil, and a cutting member having a cutting surface, wherein the cutting member is relatively movable with respect to the anvil and the staple cartridge. In at least one embodiment, one of the anvil and the staple cartridge defines a slot which is configured to receive at least a portion of the cutting member and guide the cutting member as it is moved relative to the anvil and the staple cartridge. In these embodiments, the slot can define a path having linear and/or curved portions. In various embodiments, the path can include a curved portion having a first portion that extends away from the shaft axis and a second portion that extends toward the axis. In one embodiment, the path can include a curved portion defined by an arc corresponding to an angle greater than 90 degrees. Link: U.S. Patent 8540128

This patent was originally filed on 2007-01-11 which gives it a processing time of 2448 days, compared to an average processing time of 1226 in the field. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. has 2128 total patents. The first named inventor is Jerome R. Morgan of Cincinnati, OH. The primary examiner was Michelle Lopez.

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