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Research In Motion Ltd. says paying damages is one thing, but its BlackBerry wireless service is too important to the national and economic interests of the United States to allow it to be shut down there as a penalty for patent infringement.

Just seven years after it first landed in executives' hands, the BlackBerry has become “nationally vital” and there is an “extraordinary public interest” in continuing the service across the United States, the Waterloo, Ont., company said in a court filing.

“The BlackBerry ... provides an unparalleled ability to alert thousands of employees during a crisis, and ensures continuity of government,” Christopher David, chief technology officer for Arlington County in Virginia, said in one of numerous third-party declarations submitted with RIM's filing.

Judge James Spencer of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is to hold hearings soon to decide whether to issue an injunction against BlackBerry services and how much RIM should pay NTP Inc. after infringing on its patents. “No injunction should be issued in this case. The public interest here far outweighs NTP's economic interests, which are fully compensable through damages,” lawyers for RIM said in the legal brief, filed Tuesday evening.

RIM also urged the judge to consider his actions in light of a re-examination of the disputed patents that has been going on at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The PTO has issued several preliminary reports rejecting NTP patents.

“The court should not issue an injunction because there is substantial doubt about the validity of the patents upon which an injunction would be premised,” RIM said.

In recent months, the company has sought to calm fears among investors and customers about the effects of any service shutdown. RIM said it has a “workaround” software package it would deploy to bypass the disputed technology.

In its latest filings, however, RIM presented a different perception of the workaround, saying the modification requires users to reprogram their devices and e-mail servers.

“This ... would likely involve some significant effort on behalf of users and their supporting organizations, which will need to take time to implement the upgrades, and will likely experience typical problems experienced with undertaking upgrades,” the filing said.

If the workaround was rolled out after an injunction, RIM would probably lose customers to competitors, it added.

“Once lost, customers many never return to RIM regardless of the ensuing invalidity of the NTP patents.”

Although a federal appeals court last year upheld parts of the infringement case RIM lost in 2002, it reversed the jury's finding on several of the patent claims. RIM said it now wants a new trial to determine damages because the original amount rested on the assumption that the company had infringed on all 16 claims of five patents.

In its own court submission on Tuesday, NTP alleged that its business has suffered “substantial harm” because of RIM's refusal to settle the case.

“If NTP has any difficulty licensing its patents, it is a reflection of the questions raised by the PTO about the patentability of the NTP patents, and not the fact that RIM continues to operate its business in the United States,” RIM said in its filing.