Abstract: Despite an avalanche of recent court decisions on the European system for supplementary protection certificates (SPCs), the issue of third party SPC applications - also known as “SPC squatting” – has never been sufficiently clarified. Considering the ambiguous stipulations in the SPC Regulations, as well as the practical and theoretical significance of this issue, the lack of judicial guidance is problematic. It is important to address such situations for the sake of legal certainty and in order to enable companies to make strategic decisions. SPC squatting also involves a crucial debate about the rationales underlying the SPC system and the question whether such activities are compatible with the very goals of the Regulations. This paper provides an overview on the legal status quo with regard to SPC squatting and discusses if - and if so, under what circumstances - such practices should be considered legitimate.