US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

aid: us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
apis:
- aid: us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit:pacer
  name: PACER - Public Access to Court Electronic Records
  tags:
  - Federal Courts
  - PACER
  - Case Records
  - Legal
  humanURL: https://pacer.uscourts.gov/file-case/court-cmecf-lookup/court/CAFC
  properties:
  - url: https://pacer.uscourts.gov/file-case/court-cmecf-lookup/court/CAFC
    type: Documentation
  - url: https://pacer.uscourts.gov/file-case/developer-resources
    type: APIReference
    title: PACER Developer Resources
  - url: https://pacer.uscourts.gov/help/pacer/pacer-authentication-api-user-guide
    type: Documentation
    title: PACER Authentication API User Guide
  - url: https://pacer.uscourts.gov/help/pacer/pacer-case-locator-pcl-api-user-guide
    type: Documentation
    title: PACER Case Locator (PCL) API User Guide
  description: Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) provides online access to U.S. Federal Court case and docket
    information from Federal Courts including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). PACER provides the
    Authentication API and the Case Locator (PCL) API for programmatic access to federal court records and case data.
- aid: us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit:opinions-orders
  name: Federal Circuit Opinions and Orders
  tags:
  - Federal Courts
  - Opinions
  - Legal Decisions
  - Legal
  humanURL: https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/home/case-information/opinions-orders/
  properties:
  - url: https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/home/case-information/opinions-orders/
    type: Documentation
    title: Opinions and Orders Search
  description: Public access to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit opinions, orders, and judgments. Includes precedential
    opinions, Rule 36 judgments, non-ministerial orders, and errata. Available online from October 1, 2004, to present. PDF
    documents accessible directly from cafc.uscourts.gov.
- aid: us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit:case-records
  name: Federal Circuit Case Records
  tags:
  - Federal Courts
  - Case Records
  - Legal
  humanURL: https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/home/case-information/case-records/
  properties:
  - url: https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/home/case-information/case-records/
    type: Documentation
  - url: https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/home/case-information/
    type: GettingStarted
  - url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit/refs/heads/main/json-schema/cafc-case-schema.json
    type: JSONSchema
    title: Federal Circuit Case Schema
  - url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit/refs/heads/main/json-schema/cafc-opinion-schema.json
    type: JSONSchema
    title: Federal Circuit Opinion Schema
  - url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit/refs/heads/main/json-schema/cafc-docket-entry-schema.json
    type: JSONSchema
    title: PACER Docket Entry Schema
  description: Case information and records for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Cases filed on or after
    March 1, 2012, are available through PACER or at public terminals in the Clerk's Office. The court provides aggregated
    case statistics via a data request process.
name: US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
tags:
- Federal Government
- Legal
- Patent Law
- Federal Courts
- Appellate Courts
type: Index
accessModel:
  pricing: freemium
  onboarding: unknown
  trial: false
  try_now: false
  public: false
  label: Freemium
  confidence: medium
  source:
  - plans
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit.png
access: 3rd-Party
created: '2024-12-25'
modified: '2026-05-03'
position: Consumer
description: The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is a federal appellate court with nationwide jurisdiction over
  cases involving patent law, international trade, government contracts, federal employment, veterans' benefits, and other
  specialized areas of federal law. The court provides public access to opinions and orders online from 2004 to present, with
  full case records accessible via PACER for cases filed after March 1, 2012. The PACER system offers developer APIs including
  the Authentication API and the Case Locator (PCL) API for programmatic access to federal case data across all federal courts.
common:
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit-domain-security.yml
- url: https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/feed/
  type: Blog
- type: LinkedIn
  url: https://www.linkedin.com/company/court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit
- type: Website
  url: https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/
- type: Documentation
  url: https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/home/case-information/
  title: Case Information
- type: Documentation
  url: https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/home/case-information/opinions-orders/
  title: Opinions and Orders
- type: GettingStarted
  url: https://pacer.uscourts.gov/
  title: PACER Registration
- type: APIReference
  url: https://pacer.uscourts.gov/file-case/developer-resources
  title: PACER Developer Resources
- type: Documentation
  url: https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/home/rules-procedures/
  title: Rules and Procedures
- type: Contact
  url: https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/home/about-the-court/contact/
  title: Contact the Court
- type: Features
  data:
  - name: PACER Case Locator API
    description: Programmatic access to the nationwide federal court case index via the PACER Case Locator (PCL) API, enabling
      searches for cases and associated parties across all federal courts including the Federal Circuit.
  - name: PACER Authentication API
    description: API allowing automated authentication to PACER without a user interface, enabling programmatic access to
      court records using PACER credentials.
  - name: CM/ECF Electronic Filing
    description: Court's electronic filing system (CM/ECF) for filing and managing case documents. Provides XML tags and NextGen
      CM/ECF integration.
  - name: Online Opinions and Orders
    description: Free public access to all Federal Circuit opinions, orders, and judgments published from October 2004 to
      present in PDF format.
  - name: Scheduled Cases Calendar
    description: Online calendar of scheduled oral argument cases and courtroom assignments at the Federal Circuit.
  - name: Statistical Reports
    description: Aggregated case statistics and reports available through the court's media and public information pages,
      plus data request process.
- type: UseCases
  data:
  - name: Patent Case Legal Research
    description: Researching Federal Circuit patent law precedent using published opinions, orders, and PACER case dockets.
  - name: Federal Employment and Veterans Claims Research
    description: Finding Federal Circuit decisions on government contracts, federal employment, veterans benefits, and specialized
      federal jurisdiction.
  - name: Court Records Access via PACER
    description: Programmatic access to Federal Circuit case dockets, filings, and documents using the PACER Authentication
      API and Case Locator API.
  - name: Appellate Monitoring
    description: Monitoring active Federal Circuit cases, oral arguments, and new opinions relevant to specific technology,
      trade, or legal areas.
  - name: Legal Data Analytics
    description: Using PACER data to analyze trends in Federal Circuit patent, trade, and government contract decisions for
      legal research.
- type: Vocabulary
  url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit/refs/heads/main/vocabulary/us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit-vocabulary.yml
  title: US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Vocabulary
- type: JSONLD
  url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit/refs/heads/main/json-ld/us-court-of-appeals-for-the-federal-circuit-context.jsonld
  title: US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit JSON-LD Context
- type: Integrations
  data:
  - name: PACER System
    description: Federal Circuit case records fully integrated with the nationwide PACER federal court records system and
      CM/ECF filing system.
  - name: CourtListener
    description: Free Law Project's CourtListener provides API access to Federal Circuit opinions and RECAP-archived PACER
      documents.
  - name: Justia Dockets
    description: Justia aggregates Federal Circuit case docket information and provides public access to filings.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com
specificationVersion: '0.19'