Despite the bitter legal fight, many analysts had expected a last-minute settlement, believing RIM wouldn't want to risk either a service shutdown or force their customers to download a software workaround.

"It's great to have moved beyond the legal battle," said John Halamka, CIO at CareGroup Healthcare System in Boston, which supports about 500 BlackBerry users, including doctors and nurses. "I only hope that this does not lead to more suits of this nature, since innovative companies could spend more time in the courts than on creating new products."

Halamka tried other technologies in the event RIM shut down service, but said BlackBerry was the most robust.

He sent his comments to Computerworld via his own BlackBerry.

In a separate earnings statement, RIM said it attracted 70,000 fewer new subscribers than expected during the quarter ending March 4, primarily due to "uncertainty surrounding the NTP litigation" causing corporate customers as well as consumers to defer BlackBerry purchases.