Ethicon linear cutter patent infringement suit against USSC dismissed by court.
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
ETHICON ENDO-SURGERY PATENT INFRINGEMENT SUIT AGAINST U.S. SURGICAL DISMISSED Aug. 31 by Judge S. Arthur Spiegel, United States District Court in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ethicon claimed in its lawsuit that USSC's GIA and Endo GIA linear cutting/stapling instruments infringed Claims 6 and 24 of Ethicon's "Fox Reissue Patent," Number 34,519; the patent covers a lockout component that prevents the user from accidentally cutting tissue without having staples loaded in the cutter.