USPTO Surgical Instrument Lockout Features Patent Granted

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Diagnosis & Surgery (A61B)

Published March 24th, 2026

Detected March 24th, 2026

Summary

The USPTO has granted patent US12582397B2 for a surgical instrument with lockout features, assigned to Cilag GmbH International. The patent describes a lockout assembly that prevents critical components from advancing until a surgical staple cartridge unlocks it.

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What changed

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted patent US12582397B2 to Cilag GmbH International for a surgical instrument featuring a lockout assembly. This assembly is designed to prevent the distal advancement of closure plates and a firing bar until a surgical staple cartridge unlocks the mechanism. The patent, filed on April 5, 2023, includes 11 claims and was granted on March 24, 2026.

This patent grant is primarily an intellectual property event and does not impose new regulatory obligations on manufacturers or medical device makers. However, it signifies a new innovation in surgical instrument design that could influence future product development and competition within the medical device sector. Companies developing similar instruments should be aware of this granted patent to avoid potential infringement.

Source document (simplified)

← USPTO Patent Grants

Surgical instrument with lockout features

Grant US12582397B2 Kind: B2 Mar 24, 2026

Assignee

Cilag GmbH International

Inventors

Sheng Ding, Chunchun Liu, Hong Xiangchun

Abstract

A surgical instrument includes a lockout assembly that can be unlocked by a surgical staple cartridge. The lockout assembly prevents a pair of closure plates and a firing bar of the surgical instrument from advancing distally when in a locked position, and allows the pair of closure plates and the firing bar to advance distally when in an unlocked position.