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Pursuant to
the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1982, which President
Reagan signed into law in a Rose Garden ceremony at
the White House on April 2, 1982, the new United States
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was created.
The Federal Circuit was formed from the merger of two
prior Article III courts, the United States Court of
Claims, and the United States Court of Customs and Patent
Appeals. The judges of the United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit assumed their responsibilities
in a historic Inaugural Session on October 1, 1982,
after being administered the Judicial Oath of Office
by the Chief Justice of the United States.
The jurisdiction of the United States
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit)
is prescribed generally by section 1295 of title 28,
United States Code. Subsection 9(a) thereof gives the
Federal Circuit exclusive jurisdiction, inter alia,
of:
- an appeal from a final decision of
district courts of the United States, if the jurisdiction
of that court was based, in whole or in part, relating
to patents;
- an appeal from a final decision of
a district court of the United States, if the jurisdiction
of that court was based, in whole or in part, on the
Little Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. 1346;
- an appeal from a final decision of
the United States Claims Court;
- an appeal from a decision of
- the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences
of the Patent and Trademark Office with respect
to patent applica-tions and interferences;
- the Commissioner of Patents and
Trademarks or the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
with respect to applica-tions for registration of
marks; or
- a district court to which a case
was directed pursuant to section 145 or 146 of title
35;
- an appeal from a final decision of
the United States Court of International Trade;
- to review the final determinations
of the United States International Trade Commission
relating to unfair practices in import trade, made
under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.
1337);
- to review, by appeal on questions of
law only, findings of the Secretary of Commerce under
U.S. note 6 to subchapter X of chapter 98 of the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (relating to
importation of instruments or apparatus);
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- an appeal under section 71 of the
Plant Variety Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 2461);
- an appeal from a final order or final
decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board, pursuant
to sections 7703(b)(1) and 7703(d) of title 5;
- an appeal from a final decision of
an agency board of contract appeals pursuant to section
8(g)(1) of the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C.
607(g)(1));
- an appeal under section 211 of the
Economic Stabilization Act of 1970;
- an appeal under section 5 of the Emergency
Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973;
- an appeal under section 506(c) of
the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978; and
- an appeal under section 523 of the
Energy Policy and Conservation Act
In its first decision, South
Corp. v. United States, 690 F. 2d 1368 (Fed.
Cir. 1982), the Federal Circuit adopted the decisions
of its predecessor courts, the United States Court of
Claims and the United States Court of Customs and Patent
Appeals, as binding precedent.
The judges of the first United States
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Standing, left to right: Byron G.
Skelton, Helen Wilson Nies, Jack R. Miller, Edward S.
Smith, Wilson Cowen, Philip Nichols, Jr.
Seated, left to right: Shiro Kashiwa,
Oscar H. Davis, Daniel M. Friedman, Howard T. Markey,
Giles S. Rich, Phillip B. Baldwin, Marion T. Bennett.
Not Shown: Don N. Laramore and James
L. Almond, Jr. |
