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We may be see the makings of a new tech industry feud between competitors . Figma has place a cease - and - desist missive to popular no - codification AI startup loveable , Figma confirmed to TechCrunch .
The letter tells Lovable to stop using the term “ Dev Mode ” for a young product feature . Figma , which also has a feature called Dev Mode , successfully trademarked that term last year , accordingto the U.S. Patent and Trademark government agency .
What ’s wild is that “ dev mode ” is a coarse full term used in many products that cater to software programmers . It ’s like an edit fashion . computer software products from jumbo company likeApple ’s iOS , Google ’s Chrome , Microsoft ’s Xboxhave features formally called “ developer mode ” that then get nicknamed “ dev mode ” in reference book materials .
Even “ dev style ” itself is commonly used . For instanceAtlassian used it in ware that pre - date Figma ’s copyright by yr . And it’sa mutual feature of speech namein uncounted open source software projects .
Figma tells TechCrunch that its hallmark refers only to the crosscut “ Dev Mode ” – not the full term “ developer mode . ” Still , it ’s a bit like trademarking the terminal figure “ bug ” to refer to “ debug . ”
Since Figma wants to own the term , it has little option but send cease - and - desist letters . ( The letter , as manyon X pointed out , was very civil , too . ) If Figma does n’t guard the terminus , it could be take up as a generic term and the trademarked becomes unenforceable .
Some on the internet indicate that this condition is already generic , should never have been allowed to be trademarked , and say Lovable should fight .
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Lovable ’s carbon monoxide gas - founder and CEO , Anton Osika , tells TechCrunch that , for now , his society has no intention of honor Figma ’s demand and changing the feature ’s name .
We ’ll see if Figma escalates . It also has other thing on its mind . On Tuesday , Figma announced it had file confidential paperwork for an IPO.However , should Figma pursue sound action , take on an international effectual battle might be pricey for the early - stage Swedish startup , Lovable , which raised a $ 15 million cum round in February .
What ’s more interesting is that Lovable is one of the uprise stars of so - called “ vibration coding . ” That ’s where users can describe what they want in a text edition prompt and the product builds it – complete with computer code . Its “ dev mode ” feature of speech was launched a few week ago to earmark users to edit that code .
Lovable publicize itself as a competitor to Figma , declare onits homepagethat designers can use Lovable “ without tedious prototyping work in tools like Figma . ” And manynewly launched startup are doing just that .
So this is n’t just a stylemark dispute . It is also a big competitor cracking its brass knucks at a vexatious upstart . Figma wasvalued at $ 12.5 billionabout a year ago .
A Figma spokesperson almost admit as much . The soul told TechCrunch that Figma has not sent cease - and - abstain letters to other tech companies over the full term , like Microsoft , because their products are “ in a different family of goods and services . ”
And Lovable ’s Osika is quick to drop a few punch of his own telling TechCrunch that he think “ Figma should focus on making their product great ” and not on hallmark marketing . He also tells TechCrunch that Lovable is successfully advance customers away from Figma and other such designing shaft created in the earned run average before LLMs .
As for the overall threat of vibe coding ware , in a conversationlast calendar month with Y Combinator ’s Garry Tan , Figma atomic number 27 - laminitis CEO Dylan Field naturally pooh - poohed the idea .
Field said that even though people like vibe put on for its upper , “ you also require to give people a way to not just get started and prototype rapidly but also get to the finale demarcation . That ’s where the disconnect is , and not just for design , but also for codification . ”
Still Osika also seems ready to compete . When he shared a copy of the Figma ’s letter on X , he usedthe grinning emoji .
