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Several news organizations quoted Research In Motion (RIM) co-CEO and co-founder Michael Lazaridis as saying his company is "prepared for any contingency" to keep its mob-e-mail services and BlackBerry wireless handhelds up and running in the event of an injunction in articles today. He gave a lunch speech at the Empire Club in Toronto, Canada yesterday.

Referring to the Canadian vendor's proposed software 'workaround,' Lazaridis also said, "I think we've planned well to make sure our customers are helped and we're producing the things that we need." While the workaround has allayed some company's fears about a shutdown, most still balk at the expense and potential downtime it may entail to implement.

BlackBerry customers, investors, the U.S. government, and District Court Judge James R. Spencer—who’s in charge of the infringement case that got RIM into trouble—would rather see RIM settle with patent holding company NTP than anything else.

Spencer said last Friday that the reality is RIM was found guilty by two courts of infringing on NTP patents, and that there's no way around that fact. It was basically RIM's fault for leaving the issue in the legal arena, when it could have settled long ago (a sentiment shared by many, BTW). If they don't settle soon, then Spencer indicated the BlackBerry vendor leaves themselves open to an "imperfect" Court decision.

He added, "The legal squabbling will continue, RIM's business will continue...," according to MarketWatch. More court dates isn't music to anyone's ears, except perhaps lawyers, while the latter may not be on the level of Mozart for BlackBerry users, it at least indicates Judge Spencer's thinking on the shutdown matter isn't as harsh to RIM's interests as it could be.

According to Reuters, Lazaridis noted after the speech that RIM was "interested in a fair and practical solution to this." And he indicated a willingness by RIM to put the whole episode behind the company. That could mean negotiations with litigant NTP to resolve the subject before Judge Spencer is forced to himself, which is estimated to happen shortly.

The BlackBerry inventor didn't comment on whether Judge Spencer's decision to put off a pronouncement on a shutdown and the impending penalty phase has finally gotten RIM and NTP back to the negotiating table. "There is a court-imposed order that we can't comment on any negotiations," he explained.

An agreed upon settlement for $450 million died last year. Meanwhile, the U.S. Patent Office appears ready to nix all of NTPs patents related to the case over the next several months. Judge Spencer says this won't affect his decision, as he views the patent review and legal proceedings as two separate issues.