The Northern District of Illinois is one of the top six districts nationwide in terms of Federal Circuit affirmances. According to a recent IP Law360 article, the Federal Circuit affirmed 71% of patent appeals from the Northern District from January 2015 through December 2017. That puts the Northern District tied for sixth with the Southern District of Florida, and well above the average affirmance rate during the period — 56%. The average fits well with statistics over time from the Federal Circuit which show affirmance rates around 50%. The fact that the Northern District is significantly higher speaks well of the Northern District judges, and is positive for Northern District patent litigants that can have more certainty than most in the Northern District’s dispositive rulings.