Patent ID: 7450358

Claim:
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protective circuit for an electronic circuit which uses at least one first and one second supply voltage, the ESD protective circuit comprising: a first ESD protective element comprising: an input that is electrically connected to a first supply voltage node associated with the first supply voltage, where the first supply voltage is supplied to the first supply voltage node via a first pad of the electronic circuit; a control input via which the first ESD protective element is activated in the event of ESD loads; and an output via which the first ESD protective element dissipates charge received from the input in an activated state; a second ESD protective element comprising: an input that is electrically connected to a second supply voltage node which is associated with the second supply voltage, where the second supply voltage is supplied to the second supply voltage node via a second pad of the electronic circuit; a control input via which the second ESD protective element is activated in the event of ESD loads; and an output via which the second ESD protective element dissipates charge received from the input in an activated state; a control bus which electrically connects the control inputs of the first and second ESD protective elements; and a first overvoltage detector comprising a measurement input for measurement of a first potential at the first supply voltage node and a control output for driving the control bus as a function of the measured first potential.