Design giant Figma has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Swedish AI coding startup Loveable, demanding the company stop using the term “Dev Mode” to describe one of its product features — a name Figma says it owns the trademark for.

According to public filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Figma successfully trademarked “Dev Mode” in November 2024, following the launch of its own Dev Mode tool earlier that year. The feature was designed to streamline collaboration between designers and developers by making design files easier to translate into code.

In a letter shared by Loveable co-founder Anton Osika on LinkedIn, Figma took a somewhat tongue-in-cheek tone while defending its intellectual property.

“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,” the letter read, before firmly requesting Loveable to “cease all use of ‘Dev Mode’” in association with its products.

Loveable’s version of “Dev Mode” offers a very different function: allowing developers to preview and edit project code without needing a GitHub connection — a utility far removed from Figma’s design-to-code workflow.

The controversy centers on what many in the tech industry consider a generic term. “Dev mode” is widely used shorthand for “developer mode,” a label adopted across countless platforms — from Atlassian to Wix — long before Figma’s trademark was granted.

The situation has sparked debate in developer circles about the overreach of software trademarks, especially when they target broadly descriptive terms. Osika himself responded with apparent amusement, posting on X (formerly Twitter):

“figma says we can’t use the word ‘dev mode’ in lovable 😄” — alongside a screenshot of the legal letter.

Figma, when contacted by The Verge, said it had “nothing to add beyond what was shared in the letter.”

The timing of the dispute is notable. In December 2023, Adobe’s high-profile $20 billion bid to acquire Figma fell through, resulting in a $1 billion breakup fee for the design startup. Just yesterday, Figma announced plans to go public, pending SEC review — a move that may explain its sharpened focus on brand protection.

Whether Loveable intends to comply or fight the claim remains unclear, but the broader industry will likely be watching closely — especially those who’ve used the term “Dev Mode” for years without incident.