Created by an act of Congress in 1982, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is a United States court of appeals that exercises exclusive appellate jurisdiction over specific types of federal cases.

Vornado Air Circulation Systems is a Kansas-based manufacturer of patented fans and heaters.

Holmes's suit sought, among other things, a declaratory judgment that its products did not infringe upon Vornado's trade dress, and an injunction preventing Vornado from alleging trade dress infringement in advertising materials.

Additionally, it rejected Vornado's argument that an intervening Federal Circuit case,[3] which disagreed with the 10th Circuit's reasoning in the Duracraft case, constituted a change in the law of trade dress that warranted relitigation of Vornado's trade-dress claim.

On November 8, 2001, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether the Federal Circuit properly exercised jurisdiction over the appeal.