U.S. Patent 8414577 was awarded to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. on 2013-04-09 and describes a “Surgical instruments and components for use in sterile environments.” This patent has been cited 277 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 instrument comprises a first portion encapsulated by a membrane and a second portion comprising a surgical instrument body and a cavity in the surgical instrument body. The cavity is configured to receive the first portion. The second portion comprises a first region comprising an opening in communication with the cavity, and a closure member movable between a first position and a second position. The closure member is in sealable engagement with the second region when it is in the first position and is at least partially free from sealable engagement with the second region when it is in the second position. One or more electrical contacts on the first portion or the second portion are configured to penetrate the membrane to allow a connection to be made between the first portion and the second portion when the closure member moves from the second position into the first position. Link: U.S. Patent 8414577

This patent was originally filed on 2009-11-19 which gives it a processing time of 1237 days, compared to an average processing time of 1396 in the field. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. has 2128 total patents. The first named inventor is Chad P. Boudreaux of Cincinnati, OH. The primary examiner was Linda Dvorak.

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