On March 9, 1910, President Taft nominated De Vries to serve as an associate judge for the United States Court of Customs Appeals, to a new seat.

On July 4, 1952, President Truman nominated him to serve as an Associate Judge for the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, to the seat vacated by Judge Joseph Raymond Jackson.

Next, the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (CCPA) reversed the Board's decision, saying that the patent only claimed the right to the equation in the limited context of the catalytic chemical conversion of hydrocarbons, so that the patent would not wholly pre-empt the use of the algorithm.