Figma tells AI startup to stop using the term ‘Dev Mode’
- Figma has sent a cease-and-desist warning to AI startup Loveable, demanding that they stop using the term “Dev Mode” due to Figma’s successful trademarking of the term in November last year.
- The term “Dev Mode” is commonly used across various software platforms and companies, including Atlassian and Wix, which may have been using it interchangeably with “developer mode” for longer than Figma has held the trademark.
- Lovable’s Dev Mode feature allows users to preview and edit project code without connecting to GitHub, while Figma’s Dev Mode tool is designed to make design files easier to convert into code.
- Figma claims that Loveable’s use of “Dev Mode” infringes on their intellectual property rights, despite the term being widely used in the industry.
- The cease-and-desist warning may be related to Figma’s recent decision to go public, following a failed $20 billion acquisition attempt by Adobe in December 2023 and a reported $1 billion termination fee.
Figma slapped Swedish AI coding startup Loveable with a cease-and-desist warning for naming one of its new product features “Dev Mode.” It turns out Figma successfully trademarked the term Dev Mode in November last year, according to the US Patent and Trademark office, having introduced its own Dev Mode feature in 2023.
“We’re flattered that you agree ‘Dev Mode’ is the ideal name for a software tool that helps bridge the gap between design and development,” Figma said in the letter shared by Lovable co-founder Anton Osika on LinkedIn. Figma told the startup that Dev Mode has been “extensively” used in connection with its own software, and that it needs to “protect our intellectual property,” asking Lovable to “cease all use of ‘Dev Mode’” in connection with the company’s products.
Dev mode is just a very common abbreviation of “developer mode,” a level of editing access that essentially every software platform on the planet has. Many companies use the two terms interchangeably, and in cases like Atlassian and Wix, have done so for far longer than Figma has held the Dev Mode trademark. Lovable’s Dev Mode feature, which allows users to preview and edit their project code without connecting to GitHub, is also completely distinct from Figma’s Dev Mode tool, which is designed to make design files easier to convert into code.
We have asked Lovable if it intends to honor the cease-and-desist. When asked for comment, Figma told The Verge it had “nothing to add beyond what was shared in the letter.”
The sudden protectiveness around Figma’s brand identity may be indicative of some big changes on the horizon. Following Adobe’s failed attempt to acquire the company for $20 billion in December 2023 (in which Figma netted a cool $1 billion termination fee), Figma announced yesterday that it’s now taking steps to go public, pending review by the Securities and Exchange Commission.