{"id":1398,"date":"2026-10-18T08:43:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T08:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.franke-ip.com\/en\/?p=1398"},"modified":"2026-10-18T08:46:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T08:46:26","slug":"magic-button-vs-mandatory-driver-assistance-systems-is-the-solution-to-a-problem-created-by-regulation-patentable-at-the-epo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.franke-ip.com\/en\/magic-button-vs-mandatory-driver-assistance-systems-is-the-solution-to-a-problem-created-by-regulation-patentable-at-the-epo\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMagic Button\u201d vs. Mandatory Driver Assistance Systems: Is the Solution to a Problem Created by Regulation Patentable at the EPO?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dacia calls it an innovation of its own; Dacia\u2019s CEO calls it her customers\u2019 most popular button: the \u201cMy Safety\u201d button<\/a> to the left of the steering wheel. Pressed twice, it switches off a selected bundle of driver assistance systems. Since the EU has made these systems mandatory for all new cars, together with their reactivation at every start, a question of comfort has become a selling point.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For patent attorneys, a more fundamental question arises. The button does not solve a problem that technology brought about, but one that the legislator created. Can such a solution be protected at the European Patent Office (EPO) \u2013 and if so, what exactly about it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The short answer:<\/strong> In principle, yes. The EPO does not ask where a problem comes from, but whether the claimed solution is technical and involves an inventive step. That is precisely where the hurdle lies: under the COMVIK approach, what the regulator prescribes counts as a non-technical constraint and does not work in the applicant\u2019s favour. What remains after that \u2013 a button that switches several assistance systems together \u2013 has been prior art for years. What is protectable is therefore not the \u201cMagic Button\u201d as an idea, but at most a concrete technical implementation that goes beyond the regulatory minimum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I. The Occasion: The \u201cMy Safety\u201d Button<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The button does not switch off \u201call\u201d assistance systems, but a bundle configured by the driver \u2013 and only until the next start. The function comes from the Renault Group\u2019s modular toolkit. It can be found at Dacia, e.g. in the Sandero, Logan, Jogger, Duster and Spring, as well as at Renault, e.g. in the Clio, Captur, M\u00e9gane, Sc\u00e9nic, Renault 5, Master, Trafic and Kangoo. Dacia nevertheless describes \u201cMy Safety\u201d as its own innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the owner\u2019s manuals (Renault 5, Dacia Duster), operation follows a simple pattern:<\/p>\n\n\n\n