Yahoo, Facebook settle patent dispute

From InfoWorld: Yahoo and Facebook announced Friday they have settled a high-profile patent dispute with a deal that analysts said would likely be good for both sides.

As part of the agreement, Yahoo and Facebook have signed a cross-licensing deal granting access to each others' patent portfolios, they said in a joint statement. They've also forged an advertising partnership and will expand an existing content distribution agreement.

Yahoo sued Facebook in March under the leadership of former CEO Scott Thompson. It accused Facebook of infringing patents covering technologies related to social networking, advertising, privacy, site customization, and communications. Facebook's News Feed and the way it handles privacy were both in violation of Yahoo's patents, Yahoo contended.

Soon after, Facebook shot back with its own patent infringement lawsuit against Yahoo.

As part of the settlement, apparently brokered by interim Yahoo CEO Ross Levinsohn and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, the companies plan to bring Yahoo's large event coverage to Facebook users by "collaborating on social integrations on the Yahoo site," their statement said.

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