United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
| Federal Circuit |
|---|
| Court of Appeals |
|
| Judgeships |
| Posts: 12 |
| Judges: 12 |
| Vacancies: 0 |
| Judges |
| Chief: Kimberly Moore |
| Active judges: William Bryson, Raymond Chen, Raymond Clevenger, Tiffany Cunningham, Timothy Dyk, Kara Farnandez Stoll, Todd Hughes, Richard Linn, Alan Lourie, Haldane Mayer, Kimberly Moore, Pauline Newman, S. Jay Plager, Sharon Prost, Jimmie V. Reyna, Alvin Schall, Leonard Stark, Richard Gary Taranto, Evan Wallach |
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is a federal appellate court with appellate jurisdiction. It hears appeals based on subject matter and its rulings may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.[1]
Appeals are heard at the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building in Washington, D.C.
This page contains the following information on the Federal Circuit.
- An overview of the court's jurisdiction
- A list of the court's active and senior judges
- A list of the court's current vacancies
- A brief history of the court
- Case reversal statistics by the Supreme Court of the United States
- Noteworthy cases heard by the court
- A list of the court's former judges
- Information about U.S. Courts of Appeals
- Where the court is located
Vacancies
- See also: Current federal judicial vacancies
There are no current vacancies on the Federal Circuit, out of the court's 12 judicial positions.
Pending nominations
There are no pending nominees for this court.
Active judges
Article III judges
| Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 28, 1984 - |
Vassar College, 1947 |
New York University Law, 1958 |
||
| April 6, 1990 - |
Harvard University, 1956 |
Temple University School of Law, 1970 |
||
| May 25, 2000 - |
Harvard University, 1958 |
Harvard Law School, 1961 |
||
| September 24, 2001 - |
Cornell University, 1973 |
Washington College of Law, 1979 |
||
| September 8, 2006 - |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1990 |
Georgetown University Law Center, 1994 |
||
| April 5, 2011 - |
University of Rochester, 1975 |
University of New Mexico School of Law, 1978 |
||
| March 12, 2013 - |
Pomona College, 1977 |
Yale Law School, 1981 |
||
| August 2, 2013 - |
University of California, Los Angeles, 1990 |
New York University Law School, 1994 |
||
| September 24, 2013 - |
Harvard University, 1989 |
Duke University School of Law, 1992 |
||
| July 8, 2015 - |
Michigan State University, 1991 |
Georgetown University Law Center, 1997 |
||
| August 6, 2021 - |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1998 |
Harvard Law School, 2001 |
||
| March 16, 2022 - |
University of Delaware, 1991 |
Yale Law, 1996 |
Active Article III judges by appointing political party
Below is a display of the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.
- Democrat appointed: 8
- Republican appointed: 4
Senior judges
Senior status is a classification for federal judges at all levels who are semi-retired. Senior judges are Article III judges who, having met eligibility through age and service requirements, continue to serve on federal courts while typically hearing a reduced number of cases. Some senior judges, however, elect to retain a full caseload after taking senior status. According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, senior judges "typically handle about 15 percent of the federal courts' workload annually."[2] The date listed under assumed office in the table below reflects the date that the judge took senior status.
| Judge | Appointed By | Assumed Office | Bachelors | Law |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 30, 2000 - |
University of North Carolina, 1952 |
University of Florida College of Law, 1958 |
||
| February 1, 2006 - |
Yale University, 1959 |
Yale Law School, 1966 |
||
| October 5, 2009 - |
Princeton University, 1966 |
Tulane Law School, 1969 |
||
| June 30, 2010 - |
U.S. Military Academy, 1963 |
William and Mary School of Law, 1971 |
||
| October 31, 2012 - |
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1965 |
Georgetown University Law Center, 1969 |
||
| January 7, 2013 - |
Harvard University, 1969 |
University of Texas School of Law, 1973 |
||
| May 31, 2021 - |
University of Arizona, 1973 |
University of California, 1976 |
Senior judges by appointing political party
Below is a display of the number of senior judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.
- Democrat appointed: 3
- Republican appointed: 4
Former chief judges
In order to qualify for the office of chief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on the United States Court of International Trade, a judge must be in active service and hold seniority over the court's commissioned judges who are 64 years of age or under, have served one year or more, and have not previously served as chief judge.[3]
In the event that no judge on the court meets those qualifications, the youngest judge in regular active service aged 65 years or more and who has served as a judge for one year or more shall become chief judge. If no judge meets those qualifications, the judge holding seniority in active service who has not served as chief before shall become the chief judge.[4][5][6]
The chief judge serves for a term of seven years until another judge becomes eligible to serve in the position. No judge is permitted to serve as chief judge after reaching the age of 70 years unless no other judge is qualified to serve.[4][5][6]
Unlike the chief justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of their term and does not create a vacancy on the court by the fact of their promotion.[3][4][5][6]
On the United States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by the president of the United States. The judge must be less than 70 years of age. A chief may serve until they reach age 70 or until another judge is designated by the president as the new chief judge. If the president selects a new chief judge, the former chief judge may continue active service on the court for the remainder of their appointed term.[7]
The following is a list of former chief judges:
Former judges
For more information about the judges of the Federal Circuit, see former judges of the Federal Court.
Jurisdiction
The Federal Circuit is the only one of the thirteen federal appeals courts whose jurisdiction is determined entirely on the subject of the lawsuit it hears, rather than on the geographical location from which the appeal originated. It has national jurisdiction over subjects including international trade, government contracts, patents, trademarks, federal personnel, veterans' benefits, and public safety officers' benefits claims.[8] Appeals of rulings by the Federal Circuit are petitioned to the Supreme Court of the United States. Chief Justice John Roberts is the circuit justice for the Federal Circuit.
The Federal Circuit hears appeals from:
- 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 Board of Appeals and Interferences of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
- Boards of Contract Appeals (for government contracts)
- United States Merit Systems Protection Board (federal employment and employment benefits)
- United States International Trade Commission
- Article III courts:
- United States Court of International Trade
- United States district courts (for patent and certain other appeals)
Specifically, it is the job of the Federal Circuit to hear all appeals from United States district courts related to:
- Non-tort monetary complaints against the federal government where the contested dollar amount is under $10,000 (the "Little Tucker Act").
- All appeals from decisions of any of the United States district courts where the original action included a complaint arising under the patent laws, except, as the Supreme Court decided, if the patent claims arose solely as counterclaims by the defendant.[9] A bill to eliminate this situation, H.R. 2955, was proposed on June 16, 2005, in the 109th Congress, but never passed. The other federal appellate courts can now hear patent counter-claims in theory; however, this happens infrequently.
Examples of cases heard by the Federal Circuit that were also heard during the 2018 Supreme Court term were Kisor v. Wilkie and Return Mail v. U.S. Postal Service.
History
Court history
The Federal Circuit was established on April 2, 1982, by the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1982 (96 Stat. 25), which merged the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the U.S. Court of Claims. The Federal Circuit was legislatively authorized with twelve judicial seats, seven of which were from the Court of Claims, and five of which were from the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.[10]
Judicial posts
The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit:[11]
| Year | Statute | Total Seats |
| April 2, 1982 | 96 Stat. 25 | 12 |
Reversal rate
Since 2007, SCOTUS has released opinions in 1,250 cases. Of those, it reversed a lower court decision 891 times (71.3 percent) while affirming a lower court decision 347 times (27.8 percent).
In that time period, SCOTUS has decided 64 cases originating from the Federal Circuit, affirming in 19 cases and reversing in 45 cases, for a reversal rate of 70 percent. As of the end of the 2023 term, of the Article III circuits—the ordinal circuits, the D.C. Circuit, and the Federal Circuit—the court with the lowest rate of overturned decisions is the Fourth Circuit at 62.1 percent.
Noteworthy cases
The following are noteworthy cases heard before this court. To suggest cases we should cover here, email us. To read opinions published by this court, click here.
| • Jury award against Apple for patent infringement overturned (2014) | Click for summary→ |
|---|---|
| VirnetX, a patent licensor, sued Apple, Inc., claiming Apple had infringed on four of its patents dealing with internet security in its FaceTime app used on most of its products. A jury found in favor of VirnetX and awarded the company $368 million in damages. Apple appealed the ruling and, on September 16, 2014, a two-judge panel for the Federal Circuit found that the jury based its award determination on faulty jury instructions. As a result, the appellate court ordered a new trial.
Chief Judge Sharon Prost wrote for the panel. She stated that "the law [required] patentees to apportion the royalty down to a reasonable estimate of the value of its claimed technology, or else establish that its patented technology drove demand for the entire product."[12] VirnetX provided an expert at trial who explained what the royalties should have been for the licensing of the patents at issue. Judge Prost's comments noted that the expert, and the jury instructions, had erred when they valued the royalties based on the total number of Apple products sold, as opposed to the value of the patent technology to each Apple product. Articles: | |
Before the U.S. Supreme Court
This section focuses on cases the U.S. Supreme Court heard that originated in this court. To suggest cases we should cover here, email us.
2023-2024 term
The following cases were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2023-2024 term.
| 2023-2024 U.S. Supreme Court cases from the Federal Circuit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Opinion author | Decision | Vote |
| Rudisill v. McDonough | Ketanji Brown Jackson | reversed and remanded | 7-2 |
| Vidal v. Elster | Clarence Thomas | reversed | 9-0 |
| Harrow v. Department of Defense | Elena Kagan | vacated and remanded | 9-0 |
2022-2023 term
The following cases were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2022-2023 term.
| 2022-2023 U.S. Supreme Court cases from the Federal Circuit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Opinion author | Decision | Vote |
| Arellano v. McDonough | Amy Coney Barrett | affirmed | 9-0 |
| Amgen Inc. v. Sanofi | Neil Gorsuch | affirmed | 9-0 |
2021-2022 term
The following cases were scheduled for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2021-2022 term.
| 2021-2022 U.S. Supreme Court cases from the Federal Circuit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Opinion author | Decision | Vote |
| George v. McDonough | Amy Coney Barrett | affirmed | 6-3 |
2020-2021 term
The following cases were scheduled for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2020-2021 term.
| 2020-2021 U.S. Supreme Court cases from the Federal Circuit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Opinion author | Decision | Vote |
| Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc. | Stephen Breyer | reversed and remanded | 6-2 |
| United States v. Arthrex Inc. (Consolidated with Smith & Nephew Inc. v. Arthrex Inc. and Arthrex Inc. v. Smith & Nephew Inc.) | John Roberts | vacated and remanded | 5-4 |
| Minerva Surgical Inc. v. Hologic Inc. | Elena Kagan | vacated and remanded | 5-4 |
2019-2020 term
The following cases were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2019-2020 term.
| 2019-2020 U.S. Supreme Court cases from the Federal Circuit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Opinion author | Decision | Vote |
| Peter v. NantKwest | Sonia Sotomayor | affirmed | 9-0 |
| Thryv, Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies, LP | Ruth Bader Ginsburg | vacated and remanded | 7-2 |
| Romag Fasteners v. Fossil | Neil Gorsuch | vacated and remanded | 9-0 |
| Maine Community Health Options v. United States | Sonia Sotomayor | reversed and remanded | 8-1 |
Federal courthouse
The Federal Circuit is located in the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building. The building was designed by architect John Carl Warnecke, who preserved the historic houses on either side of the courthouse under the direction of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1962. The building was originally constructed for use by the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the Court of Claims, but when the courts were merged, the Federal Circuit took over its use, sharing the space with the United States Court of Federal Claims.[13]
About United States Court of Appeals
The United States courts of appeals (or circuit courts) are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal courts. The court of appeals was originally created in 1891 and has grown to include thirteen courts.
A court of appeals decides appeals from any of the district courts that are in its federal judicial circuit. The appeals courts also can hear appeals from some administrative agencies. Decisions of the federal appeals courts can, in turn, be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.
There are thirteen United States courts of appeals. In addition, there are other federal courts (such as the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which hears appeals in court-martial cases) that have "Court of Appeals" in their titles.
Federal circuit court judges are appointed for life. They are paid approximately $179,500 annually. At the age of 65, a federal judge may choose to retire with his or her full salary. Judges may also choose to go on senior status at age 65, if they have served actively for 15 years.[14]
Appointments by president
The chart below shows the number of appeals court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through November 1 of the fourth year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, President Trump had the most appeals court appointments with 53.
Judges by circuit
- See also: Judicial vacancies in federal courts
The table below displays the number of judges in each circuit and indicates how many were appointed by presidents from each major political party. It also includes the number of vacancies on a circuit and how many pending nominations for that circuit are before the United States Senate. The table can be sorted by clicking the column headers above the line. It is updated every Monday.
See also
- United States Court of Federal Claims
- United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
- United States Court of International Trade
- United States district court
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Website of the Federal Circuit
- Judges of the Federal Circuit
- Opinions of the Federal Circuit
- Federal Judicial Center - About the Federal Circuit
Footnotes
- ↑ UScourts.gov, "Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit," accessed May 12, 2021
- ↑ United States Courts, "FAQs: Federal Judges: What is a senior judge?" accessed December 19, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 United States Courts, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed January 25, 2022
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 136 - Chief judges; precedence of district judges," accessed January 25, 2022
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 258 - Chief judges; precedence of judges," accessed January 25, 2022
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 45 - Chief judges; precedence of judges," accessed January 25, 2022
- ↑ Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 171 - Appointment and number of judges; character of court; designation of chief judge," accessed January 25, 2022
- ↑ United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, "Court Jurisdiction," accessed August 9, 2019
- ↑ Justia, "Holmes Group, Inc. v. Vornado Air Circulation Systems, Inc., 535 U.S. 826, 2002," accessed May 12, 2021
- ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit," accessed May 12, 2021
- ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit," accessed May 12, 2021
- ↑ Reuters, “U.S. court throws out VirnetX $368 million patent award vs Apple,” September 16, 2014
- ↑ Bennett, M. T., Cowen, W. & Nichols Jr., P. (1978). The United States Court of Claims: A History; Part II: Origin, Development, Jurisdiction, 1855–1978. Washington, D.C.: Committee on the Bicentennial of Independence and the Constitution of the Judicial Conference of the United States
- ↑ United States Courts, "FAQs: Federal Judges," accessed May 5, 2021
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Active judges |
Chief Judge: Kimberly Moore • Leonard Stark • Sharon Prost • Pauline Newman • Alan Lourie • Timothy Dyk • Jimmie V. Reyna • Richard Gary Taranto • Raymond Chen • Todd Hughes • Kara Farnandez Stoll • Tiffany Cunningham | ||
| Senior judges |
Alvin Schall • Haldane Mayer • Richard Linn • William Bryson • S. Jay Plager • Raymond Clevenger • Evan Wallach • | ||
| Former judges | Kathleen M. O'Malley • Paul Michel • Randall Rader • Arthur Gajarsa • Daniel Friedman • Glenn Archer • James Almond • Jean Bissell • Phillip Baldwin • Marion Bennett • Arnold Cowen • Oscar Davis • Shiro Kashiwa • Don Laramore • Howard Markey • Jack Miller • Philip Nichols • Helen Nies • Giles Rich • Byron Skelton • Edward Samuel Smith • | ||
| Former Chief judges |
Paul Michel • Sharon Prost • Haldane Mayer • Glenn Archer • Howard Markey • Helen Nies • | ||
