12.5.3 Opposition by defendants It is obviously not infrequent for patent owners bringing actions against infringement of their rights to encounter defendants mounting an offensive strategy against those rights. They may for instance file counterclaims for the patent to be declared invalid or subject to exceptions.59 This shifts the argument to an issue prior to the alleged infringement: whether the requirements for patentability of the invention were initially met or there are any other legal causes of invalidity that may be alleged.60 The decision process for handling those kinds of disputes has been covered above, so we turn next to the alleged infringement. An argument the defendant may raise in that connection is that of having been authorized to use the patent, which calls for an analysis of the origin and scope of such authorization to determine whether the defendant’s conduct was in fact justified. The defendant might also argue that their conduct was not an infringement because it did not encroach on the scope of the exclusive right conferred by the patent. Article 120 of LP-2015.Article 102 of LP-2015.