Washington, Jul 7 (IANS): Yahoo and Facebook have reached a strategic deal as part of a final settlement of their patent infringement lawsuits, according to US media.

The agreement will include a major expansion of their ongoing partnership, including a joint advertising sales effort, as well as cross-licensing of some key patents between the two companies, Xinhua reported citing technology news website AllThingsD's report.

The boards of Facebook and Yahoo have approved the deal and it will be announced later Friday, said the report, adding that no actual cash payment would change hands over the patent dispute.

Yahoo filed a lawsuit against Facebook in March, claiming that the social network company had infringed 10 of its patents covering advertising, privacy, messaging and social networking. Facebook filed a countersuit against Yahoo in early April.

According to AllThingsD, the Yahoo board first agreed to sue Facebook as former Chief Executive Officer Scott Thompson promised a big financial payoff from the suit. But they reached out for settlement with Facebook shortly after Thompson stepped down over academic credentials in May.