Microsoft and Adobe have earned the ire of a small digital media company, who claims that both these IT giants are infringing on patents they own. Aloft Media has brought the suit against them over two patents in particular, both of which concern user interfaces in conjunction with display a URL and site content. The patents are relatively new, far newer than most of the supposed products that infringe upon said patents:
They were filed for in late 2003 and were granted in October of 2006 and March of 2007, respectively. They describe user interfaces in a network browsing window that display the content at a specific URL as well as the URL itself somewhere on or around the window.
If you haven't heard of Aloft Media, don't be surprised. I certainly haven't, and I doubt we'll hear much more from them. The article brings up the generic nature of the patents, and given the scope of the technology and that Aloft is demanding an injunction, it's extremely unlikely that they will get their way.
Assuming they filed for these patents only to sue later in life, they wouldn't be the first such company that attempts to make a living doing that. It isn't a good business plan, and I won't be surprised if this gets tossed out.