Consumer marketing is a strange fish. Those who love their Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) BlackBerry cellphone/email machines generally are very brand loyal. I know a few people who always want the latest BlackBerry when it's released, regardless of style or function or size. As long as it is the latest, they want it.

Even though a BlackBerry can make work away from the office much easier, the addiction many have to it can be disturbing at times. We already have 24/7 cellphone voice access, and now we have 24/7 email access. Is it healthy? That's been the subject of quite a few psychology papers I'd suspect.

BlackBerry devices are handy for the end consumer because branding and marketing work, regardless of whether half-truths are used to communicate or not. Advertising almost always promises something it can't deliver perfectly, but that does not stop consumers from spending billions to find out.

Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM) was upgraded twice this week. On Monday, RBC upgraded RIMM to Outperform from Sector Perform with a $180 target. Following Tuesday's selloff, ThinkEquity upgraded RIMM yesterday to Buy from Accumulate with a $165 target, believing the selloff created a buying opportunity.

RIM said on Tuesday that it expects to report the results of its internal stock-option review Monday next week. It's going to miss the Friday deadline, but at least the end is in sight and investors can sigh in relief. RIM said in the past it would likely need to restate some financials following the review, but these are generally believed to be insignificant in the magnitude of no more than $45 million.

Meanwhile, the BlackBerry Pearl continues to have strong sales and the new 8800 is also promising. The downside, of course, is the upcoming Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone, which is expected to be a main competitor.

RIMM shares continue to show resilience and are up 10% year-to-date despite the significant drop after the iPhone was announced. I, for one, would like to wait and see who buys the iPhone before I'd doom RIM. It's quite possible the iPhone will be more popular with the younger crowd, while RIM will continue to be the business crowd favorite.

I don't know if I would call RIMM a bargain stock with its P/E of 57 and its forward P/E of 30, but I'd still consider it now. RIMM is up 50c today or 0.36% to $141.11, still off its 52-week high of $147.05, but definitely not bad on a general down day.

Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM), the maker of the BlackBerry wireless devices, on Friday filed a suit against Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. for launching a smart phone named BlackJack. This would confuse customers, RIM claims, as well as "tarnishing, blurring, diluting, and/or disparaging RIM's reputation and goodwill."

The Samsung BlackJack is a smart phone that combines phone mobility with email and Internet access as well as a camera and a media player. It is powered by software from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT).

Cingular Wireless, jointly held by AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and BellSouth Corp. (NYSE:BLS), and a longtime distributor of BlackBerry, started distributing BlackJack last month. This month, Cingular also started distributing a similar device to the BlackJack, RIM's new BlackBerry Pearl.

While taken separately, Pearl and BlackJack certainly sound different. However, I can certainly see how some consumers might confuse BlackBerry Pearl and BlackJack. Seriously, if this wasn't the intent of Samsung in the first place, I doubt the company would name its phone BlackJack. What's more, the phones are similar in looks. See for yourself: BlackBerry Pearl and Samsung's BlackJack.

On a different note, and following up on a previous story regarding RIM needing to restate their financial results, the company announced Friday that it intends to report preliminary operating results for its third quarter on Dec. 21.

The stock is off more than 12% of its 52-week high as concerns mount on Pearl encroaching on BlackBerry sales. RIMM was downgraded by a few firms recently based on valuation mostly.