미국 연방특허항소법원(CAFC)의 정체성(正體性) 및 관련 번역어에 대한 고찰

The purpose of this article is to analyze in detail the identity of CAFC, which has long been controversial in Korea and even in the US. Since the implementation of the centralized jurisdiction system has made The Patent Court of Korea more similar to the US CAFC, if our Koreans would accurately understand the identity of CAFC, such acts can provide a good guidance for the Patent Court of Korea in the future. For that purpose, this article considered that CAFC do have a clear identity as a 'specialized patent court'. Furthermore, in order to properly reflect and fully understand such identity, it should be regarded as more reasonable to translate ‘CAFC’ to the Federal Patent Appeals Court, not the Federal Circuit Appeals Court, in Korean. The 4 reasons why this article considers and regards as mentioned above are as follows. First, the proportion of patent cases is qualitatively and quantitatively overwhelming in the CAFC’s caseload. Second, even in the history of the establishment of the CAFC, the establishment of a centralized patent appellate court was the core of the system change. Third, unlike in Japan, the term “patent court” is easier and more intuitive in Korea. Fourth, the term 'circuit' is nothing more than a meaningless vestige of the past even in the US. In future discussions in Korea, it seems reasonable to presuppose that CAFC actually has the identity of a patent appeal court even though the court handles various type of cases.