United States · Bill · HR
H.R. 2405 (97th)
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Act of 1981
Introduced
10 March 1981
Last action
16 September 1981 · Committee
Status
Clean Bill H.R.4482 Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee in Lieu.
Sponsors
Rep. Kastenmeier, Robert W. [D-WI-2], Rep. Rodino, Peter W., Jr. [D-NJ-10], Rep. Danielson, George E. [D-CA-30], Rep. Railsback, Thomas F. [R-IL-19], Rep. McClory, Robert [R-IL-13], Rep. Butler, M. Caldwell [R-VA-6], Rep. Sawyer, Harold S. [R-MI-5], Rep. Alexander, Bill [D-AR-1]
Subjects
Discovery layer
Source updated
29 August 2025
Summary
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Act of 1981 - Title I: United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and United States Claims Court - Establishes the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, composed of all Federal judicial districts and consisting of 12 judges. Grants the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit exclusive jurisdiction over: (1) patent, copyright, and trademark appeals from district courts (except cases involving copyrights or trademarks and no other issues, which shall continue to be appealed to the circuit courts); (2) appeals of claims against the Government (except cases under the Federal Tort Claims Act which shall continue to be appealed to the circuit courts); (3) appeals from the United States Claims Courts; (4) certain other trademark and patent appeals not involving de novo review; (5) appeals from final decisions of the United States Court of International Trade; (6) appeals from final determinations of the United States International Trade Commission relating to unfair practices in import trade; (7) certain findings of the Secretary of Commerce relating to importation of instruments; (8) appeals under the Plant Variety Protection Act and from final orders of the Merit Systems Protection Board; and (9) appeals from final decisions of agency boards of contract appeals pursuant to the Contract Disputes Act of 1978. Replaces the Court of Claims with the United States Claims Court, consisting of 16 judges serving 15-year terms. Abolishes the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. Title II: Conforming Amendments Outside Title 28 - Makes conforming amendments. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides that the judges of the United States Court of Claims and United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals in regular active service shall continue in office as judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Provides that commissioners of the United States Court of Claims shall become judges of the United States Claims Court.
This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.
Timeline
10 March 1981
Introduced
Referred to House Committee on The Judiciary.
Source: IntroReferral
10 March 1981
Introduced
Introduced in House
Source: IntroReferral
10 March 1981
Introduced
Introduced in House
Source: IntroReferral
18 March 1981
Referred
Referred to Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice.
Source: Committee
2 April 1981
Committee
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Source: Committee
8 April 1981
Committee
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Source: Committee
7 May 1981
Committee
Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Source: Committee
10 September 1981
Committee
Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Source: Committee
16 September 1981
Committee
Clean Bill H.R.4482 Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee in Lieu.
Source: Committee
Votes
No vote records are attached yet.
Versions
No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.
Documents
1 official file
Leesvertaling
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Introduced in House
summary · EN · 10 March 1981
Sponsors
- Rep. Kastenmeier, Robert W. [D-WI-2] · D · Sponsor
- Rep. Rodino, Peter W., Jr. [D-NJ-10] · D · Sponsor
- Rep. Danielson, George E. [D-CA-30] · D · Sponsor
- Rep. Railsback, Thomas F. [R-IL-19] · R · Sponsor
- Rep. McClory, Robert [R-IL-13] · R · Sponsor
- Rep. Butler, M. Caldwell [R-VA-6] · R · Sponsor
- Rep. Sawyer, Harold S. [R-MI-5] · R · Sponsor
- Rep. Alexander, Bill [D-AR-1] · D · Cosponsor
- · hsju00 · Standing
Related records
- related to ← Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1981
Sources
PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.
- Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/97th-congress/house-bill/2405
- Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/97/hr/2405
- us · 97-hr-2405 · source updated 29 August 2025