US Patent Issued to Cilag GmbH International Zug on Dec. 9 for "Surgical stapler with discretely positionable distal tip" (Ohio, Kentucky, South Carolina Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,490,979, issued on Dec. 9, was assigned to Cilag GmbH International Zug (Switzerland).

"Surgical stapler with discretely positionable distal tip" was invented by Weston S. Hirschfeld (West Chester, Ohio), Daniel V. Jones (Edgewood, Ky.), Pierre R. Mesnil (Charleston, S.C.), John May (Milford, Ohio) and Jeffery Bruns (Cincinnati).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An apparatus includes a first jaw (16) and a second jaw (618, 718, 900) that cooperate to clamp and staple tissue (90). The second jaw includes a jaw body (620, 720, 902, 1202) and a distal tip (619, 719, 906, 1206) pivotable relative to the jaw body between a first discrete and a sec...