United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Current United States federal appellate court

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
(Fed. Cir.)
Location
Established
Judges
CircuitJustice
ChiefJudge
cafc.uscourts.gov

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is one of the 13 United States courts of appeals. It has special appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal cases involving patents, international trade, trademark registrations, government contracts, veterans' benefits, public safety officers' benefits, federal employees' benefits, and various other types of cases.[1] Unlike the other circuits, the Federal Circuit is a specialized court and has no jurisdiction over criminal, bankruptcy, immigration, or U.S. state law cases. It is headquartered at the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building in Washington, D.C.

The Federal Circuit was created in 1982 with enactment of the Federal Courts Improvement Act, which merged the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the appellate division of the United States Court of Claims, making the judges of the former courts into circuit judges.[2][3] In addition to the Markey Building, the court also occupies the adjacent Benjamin Ogle Tayloe House, former Cosmos Club building, and the Cutts-Madison House in Washington, D.C., on Lafayette Square. The court sits from time to time in locations other than Washington, and its judges can and do sit by designation on the benches of other courts of appeals and federal district courts. As of 2016[update], Washington and Lee University School of Law's Millhiser Moot Courtroom had been designated as the continuity of operations site for the court.[4]

List of former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	Don Nelson Laramore	IN	1906–1989	—	—	1982–1989	Eisenhower / Operation of law[12]	death
2	Giles Rich	NY	1904–1999	1982–1999	—	—	Eisenhower / Operation of law[13]	death
3	J. Lindsay Almond	VA	1898–1986	—	—	1982–1986	Kennedy / Operation of law[13]	death
4	Oscar Hirsh Davis	DC	1914–1988	1982–1988	—	—	Kennedy / Operation of law[12]	death
5	Arnold Wilson Cowen	TX	1905–2007	—	—	1982–2007	L. Johnson / Operation of law[12]	death
6	Philip Nichols Jr.	DC	1907–1990	1982–1983	—	1983–1990	L. Johnson / Operation of law[12]	death
7	Byron George Skelton	TX	1905–2004	—	—	1982–2004	L. Johnson / Operation of law[12]	death
8	Phillip Baldwin	TX	1924–2002	1982–1986	—	1986–1991	L. Johnson / Operation of law[13]	retirement
9	Howard Thomas Markey	IL	1920–2006	1982–1991	1982–1990	—	Nixon / Operation of law[13]	retirement
10	Marion T. Bennett	MO	1914–2000	1982–1986	—	1986–2000	Nixon / Operation of law[[12]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States

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Composition of the court

As of March16,2022[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service	Appointed by
Active	Chief	Senior
31	Chief Judge	Kimberly A. Moore	Washington, D.C.	1968	2006–present	2021–present
16	Circuit Judge	Pauline Newman[a]	Washington, D.C.	1927	1984–present	—
22	Circuit Judge	Alan David Lourie	Washington, D.C.	1935	1990–present	—
29	Circuit Judge	Timothy B. Dyk	Washington, D.C.	1937	2000–present	—
30	Circuit Judge	Sharon Prost	Washington, D.C.	1951	2001–present	2014–2021
33	Circuit Judge	Jimmie V. Reyna	Washington, D.C.	1952	2011–present	—
35	Circuit Judge	Richard G. Taranto	Washington, D.C.	1957	2013–present	—
36	Circuit Judge	Raymond T. Chen	Washington, D.C.	1968	2013–present	—
37	Circuit Judge	Todd M. Hughes	Washington, D.C.	1966	2013–present	—
38	Circuit Judge	Kara Farnandez Stoll	Washington, D.C.	1968	2015–present	—
39	Circuit Judge	Tiffany P. Cunningham	Washington, D.C.	1976	2021–present	—
40	Circuit Judge	Leonard P. Stark	Washington, D.C.	1969	2022–present	—
19	Senior Judge	Haldane Robert Mayer	Washington, D.C.	1941	1987–2010	1997–2004
21	Senior Judge	S. Jay Plager	Washington, D.C.	1931	1989–2000	—
23	Senior Judge	Raymond C. Clevenger	[Washington, D.C.](https:/

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Jurisdiction

The Howard T. Markey National Courts Building in Washington, D.C., in which the Federal Circuit is located.

The Federal Circuit is unique among the courts of appeals in that its jurisdiction is based wholly upon subject matter, not geographic location. The Federal Circuit is an appellate court with jurisdiction generally given in 28U.S.C. §1295. The court hears certain appeals from all of the United States District Courts, appeals from certain administrative agencies, and appeals arising under certain statutes. Among other things, the Federal Circuit has exclusive jurisdiction over appeals from:[5]

• Article I tribunals:

  • United States Court of Federal Claims

  • United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims

  • United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

  • United States Patent Trial and Appeal Board (formerly known as the United States Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences)

  • Boards of contract appeals (for Government contract disputes pursuant to the Contract Disputes Act of 1978):

    • Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals
    • Civilian Board of Contract Appeals
    • Postal Service Board of Contract Appeals

  • United States Merit Systems Protection Board (federal employment and employment benefits)

  • United States International Trade Commission

• Article III tribunals:

  • United States Court of International Trade

  • United States district courtsrelating to:

    • Patents, including appeals arising from an action against the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks under 35U.S.C. §145
    • The Little Tucker Act, 28U.S.C. §1346
    • Section 211 of the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970;
    • Section 5 of the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973;
    • Section 523 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975; and
    • Section 506(c) of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978

• Office of Congressional Workplace Rights

Although the Federal Circuit typically hears all appeals from any United States District Court where the original action included a complaint arising under the patent laws, the Supreme Court decided in Holmes Group, Inc. v. Vornado Air Circulation Systems, Inc. (2002)[[6]](https

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