Facebook and Yahoo settle lawsuits and team up

Facebook and Yahoo have agreed to drop the patent lawsuits they have filed against each other. In addition, the companies have also agreed to work together in the field of advertising.

The lawsuits in question were settled without either party having to put a sum of money on the table. It was agreed, however, that both companies may use each other’s patents. It is common for settlements to set up such a cross-licensing deal.

Little was disclosed about the ad partnership, but it is possible that Facebook and Yahoo will partially link their ad networks. This is likely to boost ad revenue, something Yahoo probably was after in reaching the settlement: the Internet company has been in bad shape for a long time.

The lawsuits between Facebook and Yahoo began in March when the latter filed a patent infringement lawsuit. Facebook defended itself by acquiring a large number of patents from Microsoft and IBM, after which it in turn filed a patent infringement claim in court.