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The petition for judicial review must describe how the persons seeking review are adversely affected and must specifically identify either of the following: (A) (B) the specific rules or other actions covered by 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(1) at issue in the petition; or the notice-and-comment rulemaking process covered by 5 U.S.C. § 553 at issue in the petition. (4) Procedure. Except as provided in Federal Circuit Rule 15(e), the procedures applicable to a petition for judicial review under 38 U.S.C. § 502 are the same as those for a petition for review under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 15 and Federal Circuit Rule 15. Federal Circuit Rules of Practice (December 1, 2025) Page 44 (Return to Table of Contents) PRACTICE NOTES TO RULE 15 Time to Appeal or Petition. The table below is provided only as a convenience to parties, who should refer to the statutes, rules, and case law before determining the period available for taking an appeal or filing a petition for review and the event that starts the period. AGENCY STATUTE TIME Arbitrator 5 U.S.C. §§ 7121, 7703 60 days Board of Contract Appeals Board of Directors, Office of Congressional Workplace Rights Bureau of Justice Assistance Government Accountability Office Personnel Appeals Board International Trade Commission Merit Systems Protection Board Patent Trial and Appeal Board; Trademark Trial and Appeal Board; Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office 41 U.S.C. § 7107 120 days 2 U.S.C. § 1407(c)(3) 90 days 34 U.S.C. § 10287 90 days 31 U.S.C. § 755 30 days 19 U.S.C. § 1337 60 days 5 U.S.C. § 7703 60 days 35 U.S.C. § 142; 15 U.S.C. § 1071; 37 C.F.R. §§ 90.3(a)(1), 1.304, 2.145 2 months or 63 days Federal Circuit Rules of Practice (December 1, 2025) Page 45 (Return to Table of Contents) PRACTICE NOTES TO RULE 15 AGENCY STATUTE TIME Secretary of Agriculture 7 U.S.C. § 2461 60 days Secretary of Labor; Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission; Federal Labor Relations Authority; certain Merit Systems Protection Board cases and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission cases 28 U.S.C. § 1296 30 days Secretary of Veterans Affairs 38 U.S.C. § 502; Fed. Cir. R. 15(f) 6 years Filing in the Patent and Trademark Office. A notice of appeal must be filed with the Director by electronic mail to the email address indicated on the Patent and Trademark Office’s web page for the Office of General Counsel. If there is some circumstance in which electronic mail cannot be used, submission may be by Priority Mail Express® addressed to Office of the Solicitor United States Patent and Trademark Office Mail Stop 8 P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450. Copy of Decision or Order. A party filing a petition for review or notice of appeal is urged to attach a copy of the decision or order of the agency for which review is sought. Intervention. A party with the right to appeal or to petition for review may not, instead of exercising that right, intervene in another appeal or petition to seek relief in its own cause. Because the United States or Federal Circuit Rules of Practice (December 1, 2025) Page 46 (Return to Table of Contents) PRACTICE NOTES TO RULE 15 an agency of the United States is often the only appellee or respondent in cases under this rule, any other party seeking to intervene on the side of the appellee or respondent must move for leave to intervene within thirty (30) days after the date when the petition for review or notice of appeal is filed. A motion for leave to intervene out of time will be granted only in extraordinary circumstances. Statement Concerning Discrimination. Using Federal Circuit Form 10 satisfies the requirements under Federal Circuit Rule 15(c). The clerk of court will include Form 10 in the docketing package provided to any unrepresented petitioner seeking review of a decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board or an arbitrator. Timeliness. Except in inter partes appeals from decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, parties in agency proceedings do not have the 14-day “cross-appeal” period that Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(3) grants to parties appealing from trial courts. The court cannot waive the statutory time requirements for filing a petition for review or notice of appeal. Consolidation. When more than one party appeals, cross-appeals, or petitions for review from rulings in the same underlying proceeding, the petitions or appeals will usually be consolidated by the clerk of court. Appeals or petitions for review from decisions involving the same or related patents from the same tribunal will usually be consolidated. Other appeals or petitions may be consolidated on motion or by the court sua sponte. Arbitration Awards in the United States Postal Service. These arbitration awards may not be appealed to this court. Proper Governmental Party in Appeals from Boards of Contract Appeals. In appeals from the boards of contract appeals, the title of the head of the federal agency is listed in the caption along with the name of the agency he or she heads. Federal Circuit Rules of Practice (December 1, 2025) Page 47 (Return to Table of Contents) PRACTICE NOTES TO RULE 15 Filing and Docketing a Petition for Review or Appeal. A petition for review or appeal is filed when the petition for review or notice of appeal is received by the court or, in the case of an appeal from the Patent and Trademark Office, when the notice of appeal is received by the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A petition for review or appeal is docketed when it is listed on the electronic docket and assigned a docket number. Change of Head of Agency. In appeals in which the proper governmental party is the head of the agency, counsel for the government should promptly notify the clerk of court of any change that would affect the accuracy of the caption. Expedited Proceedings. The overall time for a review of an agency decision can be accelerated by the expeditious filing of a notice of appeal or petition for review shortly after entry of the reviewable agency order. When the appellant or petitioner is considering seeking expedited proceedings on appeal, the party should consider filing its notice of appeal or petition for review and principal brief well before the deadline for such actions. For further information on expedition procedures, see the Practice Notes to Rule 27. Participation by Appellees/Respondents. An appellee or respondent desiring not to file a brief or join in another party’s brief should promptly notify the clerk of court. Federal Circuit Rules of Practice (December 1, 2025) Page 48 (Return to Table of Contents) FEDERAL RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 15.1 Briefs and Oral Argument in a National Labor Relations Board Proceeding [OMITTED] FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 16 The Record on Review or Enforcement (a) Composition of the Record. The record on review or enforcement of an agency order consists of: (1) (2) (3) the order involved; any findings or report on which it is based; and the pleadings, evidence, and other parts of the proceedings before the agency. (b) Omissions from or Misstatements in the Record. The parties may at any time, by stipulation, supply any omission from the record or correct a misstatement, or the court may so direct. If necessary, the court may direct that a supplemental record be prepared and filed. Federal Circuit Rules of Practice (December 1, 2025) Page 49 (Return to Table of Contents) FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 17 Filing the Record (a) Agency to File; Time for Filing; Notice of Filing. The agency must file the record with the circuit clerk within 40 days after being served with a petition for review, unless the statute authorizing review provides otherwise, or within 40 days after it files an application for enforcement unless the respondent fails to answer or the court orders otherwise. The court may shorten or extend the time to file the record. The clerk must notify all parties of the date when the record is filed. (b) Filing — What Constitutes. (1) The agency must file: (A) (B) the original or a certified copy of the entire record or parts designated by the parties; or a certified list adequately describing all documents, transcripts of testimony, exhibits, and other material constituting the record, or describing those parts designated by the parties.* The parties may stipulate in writing that no record or certified list be filed. The date when the stipulation is filed with the circuit clerk is treated as the date when the record is filed. The agency must retain any portion of the record not filed with the clerk. All parts of the record retained by the agency are a part of the record on review for all purposes and, if the court or a party so requests, must be sent to the court regardless of any prior stipulation. (2) (3) *The agency must retain the record and must only send this court the certified list or index. See Fed. Cir. R. 15(a). Federal Circuit Rules of Practice (December 1, 2025) Page 50 (Return to Table of Contents)