United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is a federal appellate court created under Article III of the United States Constitution on October 1, 1982, when the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1982 merged the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals with the appellate division of the Court of Claims. It sits in the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building on Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. After the Clerk's Office dockets an appeal and the parties file written briefs, the case goes to a panel of three judges chosen at random, who either hear oral argument or decide on the filings alone. Sessions usually run during the first week of each month, and each side normally has fifteen minutes to argue. A decision that adds significantly to a body of law is issued as a precedential opinion; others are nonprecedential. Parties may seek review of its decisions in the Supreme Court of the United States.