To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: Last year, the global COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges for American courts. By making several changes, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was able to largely continue its operations. The most visible of these changes was that the Court began to hear all arguments telephonically, with some early denials of at least some parties’ requests for an oral hearing. Another less visible shift was that the Court issued summary affirmances in cases in which there was no oral argument. At the same time, the number of appeals to the Court dipped this year, perhaps as a result of broader economic uncertainty. The largest drop was in post-grant review cases from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The number of appeals from the PTO reached an all-time high in 2019 at more than 650 appeals. In 2020, that number was less than 550 appeals, which may reflect a settling of expectations since the number of post-grant institutions remained steady from FY2018 to FY2019. Despite having fewer appeals, there was an