U.S. Patent 7641092 was awarded to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. on 2010-01-05 and describes a “Swing gate for device lockout in a curved cutter stapler.” This patent has been cited 325 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 linear surgical stapler adapted for applying a plurality of surgical fasteners to body tissue includes an anvil structure and a cartridge housing containing a plurality of surgical fasteners. The cartridge housing and anvil structure are relatively movable between a first spaced apart position and a second position in close approximation with one another. A firing mechanism is associated with the cartridge housing for ejecting the surgical fasteners from the cartridge housing to be driven against the anvil structure. A lockout mechanism interacts with the cartridge housing for selective activation and deactivation. The lockout mechanism includes a swing gate tab secured to the cartridge housing at a position adjacent a lockout lever, such that firing of the linear surgical stapler rotates the swing gate tab releasing the lockout lever for preventing further firing of the used cartridge housing. Link: U.S. Patent 7641092

This patent was originally filed on 2005-08-05 which gives it a processing time of 1614 days, compared to an average processing time of 1244 in the field. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. has 2128 total patents. The first named inventor is William D. Kelly of Mason, MI. The assistant examiner was Michelle Lopez.

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