Haldane Robert Mayer (born February 21, 1941) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the U.S. federal court ...

Education and military service

Mayer was born in Buffalo, New York, to Haldane and Myrtle Mayer. He was educated in the public schools of Lockport, New York. Mayer was appointed to the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

by Representative William E. Miller, and received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in 1963. Mayer served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

from 1963 to 1975. He was awarded the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

, Meritorious Service, and Army Commendation Medals, the

Combat Infantryman Badge The Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) is a United States Army military decoration. The badge is awarded to infantrymen and Special Forces soldiers in the rank of colonel and below, who fought in active ground combat while assigned as members of e ...

Parachutist Badge A parachutist badge (or parachutist brevet) is a military badge awarded by the armed forces of many states to soldiers who have received parachute training and completed the required number of jumps. It is difficult to assess which country was the ...

, Ranger Tab, and Ranger Combat Badge for his service during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. He took leave from the Army to attend the

William & Mary Law School The William & Mary Law School, known historically as the Marshall-Wythe School of Law, is the professional graduate law school of the College of William & Mary. Located in Williamsburg, Virginia, the school is the oldest extant law school in th ...

, where he was editor-in-chief of the '' William and Mary Law Review''. He graduated first in his class and received his Juris Doctor in 1971. He attended

The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School, also known as The JAG School or TJAGLCS, is a graduate-level division federal service academy located on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. The center is ...

at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

Later career

Mayer served as Special Assistant to the Chief Justice of the United States,

Warren E. Burger Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul Colleg ...

, for three years, and as law clerk to Judge John D. Butzner, Jr., of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryland ...

. He was in private practice in

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, in the 1970s, and in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in 1980 and 1981. He was Deputy and Acting Special Counsel at the

United States Merit Systems Protection Board The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is an independent quasi-judicial agency established in 1979 to protect federal merit systems against partisan political and other prohibited personnel practices and to ensure adequate protection for federa ...

from 1981 to 1982.

Federal judicial service

President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the

United States Claims Court The United States Court of Federal Claims (in case citations, Fed. Cl. or C.F.C.) is a United States federal court that hears monetary claims against the U.S. government. It was established by statute in 1982 as the United States Claims Court, ...

in 1982, where he served until 1987. Mayer was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on February 3, 1987, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Marion T. Bennett. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on June 11, 1987, and received commission on June 15, 1987. He served as Chief Judge from 1997 to 2004. Mayer took

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on June 30, 2010.William & Mary Biographies
. He was an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Law School and the University of Virginia School of Law. He was a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1997 to 2004.

Notable decisions

Mayer wrote a concurring opinion in '' Intellectual Ventures v. Symantec'', that controversially argues that "(1) patents constricting the essential channels of online communication run afoul of the First Amendment; and (2) claims directed to software implemented on a generic computer are categorically not eligible for patent."

Personal life

Mayer married Mary Anne McCurdy on August 13, 1966. They had two daughters, Anne Christian and Rebecca Paige.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Haldane Robert 1941 births 20th-century American judges George Washington University Law School faculty Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Judges of the United States Court of Federal Claims Living people United States court of appeals judges appointed by Ronald Reagan United States Military Academy alumni University of Virginia School of Law faculty Virginia lawyers William & Mary Law School alumni The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School alumni