In the mobile device world there is a heated battle between the most popular handset creators. Research in Motion’s BlackBerry once tore up the market, but with the onset of the iPhone and then Google’s Android platform, the future is no longer certain.

Now, what is certain is that BlackBerry is no longer a real contender in this fight and is barely keeping its head above water. It hasn’t been a good week for RIM.

First, According to a poll conducted by Baird & Co by William Power, 31% of registered BB10 app developers are jumping ship and will not develop anything for the new BB10 platform.

RIM executive Alec Saunders is trying to spin that pool suggesting that the survey doesn’t reflect what is actually happening out there. The BlackBerry 10 Jam World Tour that hosts a media event for developers in 23 cities is reporting “over capacity” registrations at most of its events.

The Power survey did only hit up 200 developers and quizzed them on their long term intentions for developing on BlackBerry. Saunders claims RIM has received feedback from over 500 developers all excited for the next BlackBerry OS.

We won’t be seeing any BlackBerrys running BB10 until first quarter 2013, and this may play into the general reluctance we are hearing. Everyone is waiting on something from BlackBerry to prove it still is a contender in this market.

Secondly this week Research in Motion was slapped with a $147 Million Lawsuit by a jury in California stating that the BlackBerry Enterprise Software infringes on a patent held by Mformation in New Jersey.

RIM claims that all of their software is independently developed and that the claim by Mformation is invalid. The jury didn’t see it that way, and while sticking to their guns, RIM plans to appeal the decision. Experts speculate that this lawsuit is unlikely to be overturned, however they could challenge the amount so they don’t have to pay out as much.

The total amount equates to $8 for every unit sold in the United States that contains the offending software.

So all in all, not a great week for the handheld giant. This bad news just hinders their struggle to recover from some poor business decisions.

Are you a BlackBerry fan? If so, do you think BlackBerry can recover or are its days numbered?