Covidien plc (NYSE:COV) won preliminary injunctions against five overseas companies it accused of patent violations.

The Mansfield, Mass.-based medical device maker claims copied the design of Covidien’s surgical stapling products and infringed an unspecified patent.

The Mansfield, Mass.-based medical products maker named one United Kingdom-based and four Chinese companies in the suits, citing J.ZH.FA. Panther Healthcare Medical Equipment Co. Ltd. and WuXi Shenkang Medical Instrument Equipment Co. Ltd. in a statement touting the ruling. The injunction provided that German customs authorities seize alleged patent infringing products, according to Covidien.

Covidien is in the process of growing its surgical stapling line. Last week the company won 510(k) clearance from the Food & Drug Administration for its iDrive surgical stapling system, the first offering in its “Power Devices” portfolio. The company plans to begin to begin selling and marketing the device the U.S. in the first quarter of 2011.

Rick Wise, an analyst for Leerink Swann wrote in a note to investors that the iDrive product is “relatively small” for Covidien — possibly generating about $5 million to $10 million of incremental revenue per year — but the overall powered product line is “perhaps one of the most important new product lines that COV will introduce over the next few years.”

“Over time, as the various ‘powered’ products are introduced in all the required varieties and sizes, they should help substantially differentiate COV’s offering from the competition and possibly drive some market share gains in what is COV’s ‘bread and butter’ laparoscopic surgery franchise,” Wise said.