Source: Yahoo, Facebook settle patent fight

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Facebook and Yahoo have agreed to settle a dispute over patents, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The deal would end lawsuits the companies filed against each other without any money exchanged, according to the person, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The technology site AllThingsD reported the deal earlier today. AllThingsD also said that the deal includes a joint advertising sales effort and cross-licensing of patents between the companies.

Yahoo first sued Facebook in March, saying the online social networking company infringed on 10 of its patents covering advertising, privacy controls and social networks.

Shortly after that, Facebook Inc. bought 750 patents from IBM Corp. and filed its own lawsuit against Yahoo Inc. claiming patent infringement.

Then, Facebook announced that it will pay $550 million for 650 patents that Microsoft Corp. had bought from AOL Inc.

Yahoo later added two more patents to its complaint.

In May, Facebook completed its initial public offering of stock, while Yahoo replaced CEO Scott Thompson after questions arose about an official biography that contained a degree he never earned.

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