838
CIRCULATION SYSTEMS, INC. Opinion of Stevens, J.
iting the number of pleadings that will mandate review in the Federal Circuit. In his opinion in Aerojet, Chief Judge Markey merely held that a counterclaim for patent infringement that was "compulsory" and not "frivolous" or "insubstantial" sufficed to establish jurisdiction; he made a point of noting that there was no assertion in the case that the patent counterclaim at issue had been filed "to manipulate the jurisdiction of [the Federal Circuit]." 895 F. 2d, at 738. The text of the statute, however, would not seem to distinguish between that counterclaim and those that are permissive, insubstantial, or manipulative, and there is very good reason not to make the choice of appellate forum turn on such distinctions. Requiring assessment of a defendant's motive in raising a patent counterclaim or the counterclaim's relative strength wastes judicial resources by inviting "unhappy interactions between jurisdiction and the merits." Kennedy v. Wright, 851 F. 2d 963, 968 (CA7 1988).
There is, of course, a countervailing interest in directing appeals in patent cases to the specialized court that was created, in part, to promote uniformity in the development of this area of the law. But we have already decided that the Federal Circuit does not have exclusive jurisdiction over all cases raising patent issues.3 Christianson, 486 U. S., at
3 In explicit contrast with the TECA, see n. 1, supra, the Federal Circuit was granted appellate jurisdiction over cases involving patent law claims, not issues. See Christianson v. Colt Industries Operating Corp., 486 U. S. 800, 820-821, n. 1 (1988) (Stevens, J., concurring) (quoting H. R. Rep. No. 97-312, p. 41 (1981)) ("Cases will be within the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the same sense that cases are said to 'arise under' federal law for purposes of federal question jurisdiction. Contrast, Coastal States Marketing, Inc. v. New England Petroleum Corp., 604 F. 2d 179 (2d Cir., 1979) [Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals properly has jurisdiction over issues, not claims, arising under the Economic Stabilization Act]" (internal quotation marks omitted)).
Considerations of convenience to the parties and the courts support Congress' decision to determine the Federal Circuit's appellate jurisdiction based on the claims alleged in the well-pleaded complaint rather than the issues resolved by the district court's judgment. If, for example, the dis-
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