At the heart of our organization is an unwavering commitment to rapidly identify and implement innovative ideas that positively impact patients, healthcare providers and the community. In particular, we are dedicated to developing medical devices that enable surgeons to provide their patients with less invasive surgery and better clinical outcomes.

As a result of our strong dedication to innovation—we invest, on average, 20% of our revenue in R&D annually—we have a portfolio of over 700 surgical products. We are well recognized for our breakthrough abdominal access (Kii), hand access (GelPort), single site (GelPOINT), occlusion (STEALTH), and wound protection/retraction (Alexis) products.

Currently, we are developing the next generation of innovative surgical devices that will complement our existing products in the following areas: Colorectal, General, Bariatric, Urologic, Gynecologic, Obstetric, Cardiac, and Vascular surgery.

If you have an idea for a new product that would complement our product offering, or an idea for an enhancement to an existing product, we sincerely appreciate your interest in sharing your idea with us, and we invite you to read the important information provided below.

1. Ideas may be considered intellectual property, and they may be valuable.
   An idea for a new product or an improvement to an existing product may be considered intellectual property, and it may be valuable. Therefore, we require that you understand and agree to our submission guidelines before you submit your idea. The guidelines are designed to reasonably protect you, the submitter, as well as the company, from the potential for misunderstandings or disputes.
2. Applied Medical will only consider your idea on a non-confidential basis.
   You should only provide information that you are willing to allow Applied Medical to use without any restriction, or expectation of compensation or confidentiality. By submitting your idea, you neither assume a confidential relationship with us or a guarantee of secrecy.
3. If your idea is not patented or patent pending, you should consider protecting it before submitting it to us.
   Before disclosing your idea to anyone, we strongly encourage you to work with a professional to assess the patentability of your idea and apply for patent protection if your idea is patentable. If you would like to learn more about the patent application process, or search for issued patents and patent applications yourself, you can refer to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office website (www.uspto.gov) or Google (www.google.com/patents).
4. If you disclose an inventive part of your idea to Applied Medical before filing for a patent, you may lose certain rights.
   Protection of your idea is important because the disclosure of an inventive part of the idea without an obligation of confidentiality—as is the case noted here—before filing for a patent may result in the loss of certain rights. Due to the complex legal issues that can arise, we suggest that you consult with a patent attorney for professional advice.
5. Ideas may only be submitted through our online Idea Submission Portal.
   Due to the intellectual property issues that can arise when ideas are not submitted in a controlled manner, we only accept ideas through our online Idea Submission Portal. Ideas submitted by any other means will not be accepted.