The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals

The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals is located in Washington, DC, and exercises special jurisdiction over certain cases as a federal appellate court. Other U.S. Courts of Appeals hear cases based upon geographical location, but this court's jurisdiction is mainly concerned with subject matter and cases from specific agencies. Thus, the cases this court hears may originate in nearly any U.S. district court.

According to 28 U.S.C. § 1295, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is given exclusive jurisdiction over appeals from the following: the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, U.S. International Trade Commission, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, Boards of Contract Appeals and the U.S. Court of International Trade.

This court also hears appeals concerning the following: patents, The Little Tucker Act, the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978, the Economic Stabiliation Act of 1970, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 175 and the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973.

The court is located at 717 Madison Pl, N.W., Washington, DC 20005. The main phone number to the clerk's office is 202-275-8000.

If you would like to access the main website for the court, it is located at www.cafc.uscourts.gov/. This site provides access to current court announcements, cases, oral argument calendars and published opinions, court rules and electronic court filing.

The court currently has 16 active judges, one of which is the chief judge. This position is rotated among all active judges that are at least 70 years old or have served for at least seven years. However, these requirements are waived if no active judge meets them.