Research In Motion Ltd (RIM) has become the third company in Canadian history to break the $1-billion mark for R&D expenditures, according to the Waterloo-based firm's latest financial data. For the FY ended Feb 28/10, RIM spent US$964.8 million on R&D, up 40.9% from the previous FY. When converted into Canadian dollars (using the Bank of Canada's average exchange rate of 1.14 for 2009), the maker of the Blackberry achieved R&D spending of $1.1 billion. Previously, only Nortel Networks Corp and Bell Canada broke the $1 billion barrier. But with Nortel's demise and a steep drop in Bell's R&D outlays, RIM is the only Canadian firm whose R&D expenditures exceed $1 billion, making it Canada's top corporate R&D performer….