U.S. Patent 8424739 was awarded to Covidien LP on 2013-04-23 and describes a “Surgical stapling device with independent tip rotation.” This patent has been cited 269 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 device is disclosed which includes a handle assembly, an endoscopic body portion and a tool assembly. The tool assembly is rotatably and pivotally supported on a distal end of the endoscopic body portion. A tool assembly rotation mechanism is provided which includes a rotation knob, a substantially rigid tube and a flexible member interconnecting the rigid tube to the tool assembly. The substantially rigid tube translates rotation of the rotation knob to rotation of the flexible member and provides a channel for passage of other components of the surgical stapling device. Link: U.S. Patent 8424739

This patent was originally filed on 2011-09-15 which gives it a processing time of 586 days, compared to an average processing time of 837 in the field. Covidien LP has 3582 total patents. The first named inventor is Ralph A. Stearns of Bozrah, CT. The assistant examiner was Nathaniel Chukwurah.

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