Show HN: I spent 4 years building a UI design tool with only the features I use

Re:Show HN: I spent 4 years building a UI design tool with o... by gyomu on Friday February 06, 2026 @05:49PM (#46919234)

> The sidepanels and floating toolbar are ripped directly from figma (to the point I would fear a lawsuit)

No, a company can’t sue you (well they can try, but it has no legal standing) because you rip off their side panel design. Thank god the industry doesn’t work like this.

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Re:Show HN: I spent 4 years building a UI design tool with o... by TonyStr on Friday February 06, 2026 @05:59PM (#46919354)

Figma sued AI startup Motiff in 2024 for copyright infringement and won[0]. Motiff had to reimburse figma, and redesign their product.

[0] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69166901/figma-inc-v-mo...

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Re:Show HN: I spent 4 years building a UI design tool with o... by mortenjorck on Friday February 06, 2026 @06:46PM (#46919745)

Not relevant. Figma v. Motif was over allegations of stealing source code, apparently including known Figma bugs.

The design of the UI wouldn't be covered by copyright anyway; Figma would have had to file and be granted a patent, which has a much higher bar (IMO not high enough, but that's a different discussion).

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Re:Show HN: I spent 4 years building a UI design tool with o... by egypturnash on Friday February 06, 2026 @10:21PM (#46920996)

Adobe sued Macromedia because the floating palettes in Flash worked just like the ones in Photoshop. Flash MX had a much-revised, shittier UI.

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Re:Show HN: I spent 4 years building a UI design tool with o... by Fraaaank on Saturday February 07, 2026 @07:18AM (#46923253)

Well, sort of. They sued because they believed Macromedia infringed on their patents. That's something else than merely visual similarity.

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