It's interesting that 'dev mode' is a common name used in products for software programmers. It's like an edit mode. Big companies like Apple (iOS), Google (Chrome), and Microsoft (Xbox) have features officially called 'developer mode' which are then often called 'dev mode' in guides and documents.

The term "dev mode" is widely used. For example, Atlassian used it in their products long before Figma existed. Also, it's a common name for a feature in many open source software projects.

Figma told TechCrunch that their trademark is only for the short name "Dev Mode," not the full phrase "developer mode." They explained it's similar to trademarking the word "bug" when you are talking about "debugging."

Figma must send letters asking others to stop using the term, because they want to keep it as their own word. If Figma does not protect the term, it might become a common word, and they will not be able to stop others from using it.

Some people online think this term is very common and should not have been a trademark, and they believe Lovable should fight against it.

Lovable's co-founder and CEO, Anton Osika, told TechCrunch that his company will not change the feature's name now, as Figma asked.

We'll see if Figma takes more action. They are also busy with other things. On Tuesday, Figma announced they had secretly applied to become a public company. But, if Figma decides to sue, fighting a legal case in another country could cost a lot for the new Swedish company, Lovable, which got $15 million in funding in February.

Also, Lovable is becoming known for something called "vibe coding." This means users can type what they want, and the product makes it, including the computer code. A feature called "dev mode" was added recently so users can change the code.

Lovable says it competes with Figma. On its website, it says designers can use Lovable "without boring prototyping work in programs like Figma." Many new companies are doing this.

So, this is more than just a fight over a name. It's also a larger rival getting ready to challenge a annoying new company. Figma was worth $12.5 billion around a year ago.

Someone from Figma said they haven't sent legal letters to companies like Microsoft because their products are very different.

Osika from Lovable believes Figma should concentrate on improving their product instead of just marketing. He also states that Lovable is attracting customers who previously used Figma and similar design tools before LLMs were available.

When asked about the danger of vibe coding products, Figma's CEO Dylan Field said it wasn't a big problem during a talk with Garry Tan from Y Combinator last month.

Field said that even though people like vibe coding because it's fast, "you also want to help people not just start quickly and make examples, but also finish the project. That's the problem, and it's true for both design and code."

However, Osika also appears prepared to compete. When he posted Figma's letter on X, he used the grinning face emoji.