The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the U.S. federal court system. It has exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal cases involving patents, trademarks, government contracts, veterans' benefits, public safety officers' benefits, Federal employees' benefits, and various other categories. Unlike other federal courts, the Federal Circuit has no jurisdiction over cases involving criminal, bankruptcy, immigration, or U.S. state law.
Giles Sutherland Rich was an associate judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (CCPA) and later on was a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), and had enormous impact on patent law. He was the first patent attorney appointed to any federal court since Benjamin Robbins Curtis was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1851.
Emory Marlin Sneeden was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Jack Richard Miller was an American politician and jurist who served as a Republican United States Senator from Iowa for two terms from 1961 to 1973. He later served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Arthur Joseph Gajarsa is a former United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Sharon Prost is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Kimberly Ann Moore is an American lawyer and jurist serving as chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Paul Redmond Michel is a retired United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and a former Chief Judge of that court.
Noble Jacob Johnson was a United States representative from Indiana and an Associate Judge and Chief Judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.
Richard Linn is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Pauline Newman is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She has been called "the heroine of the patent system", the Federal Circuit's most prolific dissenter", and "the greatest ally to inventors with respect to [calling out] the ignorance of the CAFC, district courts, and at times even the Supreme Court". Chief Judge Kimberly A. Moore commented of Newman that "many of her dissents have later gone on to become the law—either the en banc law from our court or spoken on high from the Supremes".
Haldane Robert Mayer is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Helen Wilson Nies was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit after previously serving as a United States Judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.
John R. "Jay" Thomas is a professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center.
Shiro Kashiwa was an American lawyer and judge who was the first Attorney General of Hawaii to be appointed after it became a state in 1959. He served as a judge of the United States Court of Claims, then as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. from 1982 to 1986. He was the first federal judge of Japanese-American descent, the first Asian American judge on the Federal Circuit and was a member of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism.
Howard Thomas Markey was an American jurist who served as the first Chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He is often credited with establishing that court's renown and competence in intellectual property law.
William Curtis Bryson is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He also served a 7-year term as a judge on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, until 2018, and on September 1, 2013, became the presiding judge of that court.
Diane Gilbert Sypolt, formerly Diane Gilbert Weinstein, is a former judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims from 1990 to 2005.
Robert Mahealani Ming Seto is a law professor, and a former judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims from 1982 to 1987.
Kara Farnandez Stoll is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
