A ruling was expected today on whether BlackBerry maker Research in Motion would be forced to discontinue its service in a long-running patent battle with NTP.

But a federal judge didn't make the call today, and instead criticized RIM and NTP for failing to come to a settlement, The Wall Street Journal reports on its Web site..

It's likely the 4 million die-hard users in the U.S. rejoiced that for at least a few more days their devices would be able to deliver their most immediate e-mail messages. At least the people on a flight from Chicago to Seattle Wednesday probably thought so.

Nearly everyone in business class checked e-mail on their BlackBerry, and in coach, the buzz was all about whether the devices would be shut down.

Cnet has done a farirly comprehensive job on what this might mean to you. Check it out here.