November 5, 2012 - A Portland, Maine-based company named SurfCast sued Microsoft for allegedly infringing a patent (one of four held by SurfCast) on a "System and method for simultaneous display of multiple information sources."
SurfCast, which has been in business since 1998 and has tried to monetize its patents in the past through a product called the "Broadband Browser," claims that the animated tiles in Windows 8 infringe the SurfCast patents.
"We are confident we will prove to the court that these claims are without merit and that Microsoft has created a unique user experience," said a Microsoft spokesperson of the SurfCast lawsuit.