by Claire Bushey

Raymond Niro, a larger-than-life lawyer who some called the original patent troll and who called himself the defender of the American inventor, died Aug. 8. The Chicago patent litigator had a heart attack while on vacation in Italy. He was 73.

Niro made his name representing plaintiffs suing companies for patent infringement, often representing "non-practicing entities"—or "patent trolls," as opponents dubbed them. But Niro said he was protecting inventors from the greed of corporate giants like Apple and Google, and he criticized legislation that he said damaged the American economy by undercutting their ability to profit from their work.

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Source: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/