Yahoo’s interim CEO now front runner for top job after ending patent war with Facebook

July 7, 2012 | Business | Written by

Washington, July 7: Yahoo’s interim chief executive Ross Levinsohn is now the frontrunner to get the top job after he personally negotiated an end to the patent warfare with social networking giant Facebook.

Levinsohn ended the hostilities that former-Chief Executive Scott Thompson started in March, alleging that Facebook was infringing on Yahoo patents.

Facebook later countersued, saying Yahoo was after “litigation over innovation.”

Levinsohn took over for Thompson on an interim basis in May, and reached out to Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg to make peace, The Los Angeles Times reports.

According to the paper, the two Internet firms are striking a friendly tone and, rather than wage war, have promised to forge a deep advertising and licensing partnership.

“I’m pleased that we were able to resolve this in a positive manner and look forward to partnering closely with Ross and the leadership at Yahoo,” Sandberg said,

Thompson resigned amid pressure from investors in May after inaccuracies were discovered in his corporate biography.

Yahoo, in its lawsuit, had claimed that Facebook infringed ten patents including several that cover online advertising technology.

The embattled Internet firm’s lawsuit came two months before Facebook’s stock market debut and was roundly criticized in Silicon Valley as opportunistic. (ANI)