RIM asked Judge James Spencer to grant a new trial on the question of damages. The Waterloo, Ontario-based vendor also criticized NTP for supporting exemptions for government and emergency workers from an injunction against BlackBerry usage, saying that many doctors and hospital staffers would be left out under that scenario.

The DOJ said that a court-ordered shutdown of the BlackBerry service could hamper communications during emergencies and that it might not be technically feasible to keep government users connected to the service while cutting off others. The only workable solution, it added, might be to issue an injunction that blocked only new sales of BlackBerry devices.

Kort said RIM officials told him that by the middle of this week the company will release details about a BlackBerry software work-around it has developed in case Judge Spencer does issue an injunction.

The CIO at a large company in the construction industry that has about 500 BlackBerry users said installing a work-around would be less painful than coping with a shutdown of RIM's service. Converting to another wireless technology would pose "a terrible burden" on setup and user training, said the CIO, who asked not to be identified.