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[tnctx02]

A hearing on a possible injunction shutting down most U.S. sales and service of the BlackBerry e-mail device has been scheduled for February 24, according to a court notice posted on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge James Spencer listed the hearing date on the docket for the closely watched case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The hearing in Richmond, Va. could be the final legal step before Spencer decides whether to impose an injunction on the maker of the BlackBerry, Research In Motion Ltd., which lost a patent infringement suit to U.S. patent holding company NTP Inc.

RIM issued a statement saying it would put up a strong argument against any injunction and disputing whether its existing customers should be subject to any injunction.

"There are compelling public interests against entry of an injunction and NTP can be fully compensated through ongoing royalty payments in lieu of an injunction," RIM's vice president of corporate marketing Mark Guibert said in a statement.

News source: Reuters