Federal Circuit Rule 1: Scope of Rules; Definitions; Title

(a) Reference to District and Trial Courts and Agencies.

(1) The terms “district court” and “trial court” include:

(A) the United States district courts;

(B) the United States Court of International Trade;

(C) the United States Court of Federal Claims; and

(D) if applicable, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

(2) The term “agency” includes an administrative agency, board, commission, bureau, or officer of the United States, as well as certain arbitrators, including each of the following:

(A) the Patent Trial and Appeal Board;

(B) the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office;

(C) the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board;

(D) the United States International Trade Commission;

(E) the Secretary of Commerce acting 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);

(F) the Secretary of Agriculture acting under 7 U.S.C. § 2461;

(G) the Merit Systems Protection Board;

(H) arbitrators whose decisions are reviewable by this court;

(I) the Boards of Contract Appeals in federal agencies;

(J) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs acting under 38 U.S.C. § 502;

(K) the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission acting under 3 U.S.C. § 454;

(L) the Federal Labor Relations Authority acting under part D of subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 3;

(M) the Secretary of Labor or the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, under part C of subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 3;

(N) the Office of Compliance acting under 2 U.S.C. § 1407(a)(1);

(O) the Government Accountability Office Personnel Appeals Board; or

(P) the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

(b) Rules of the Court of International Trade, Court of Federal Claims, and Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

(1) Reference in these rules to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure includes analogous rules of the Court of International Trade and the Court of Federal Claims.

(2) Reference in these rules to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure includes rules of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims only where applicable, because that court’s rules are derived from the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.

(c) Title.

These rules are to be known as the Federal Circuit Rules.