# New Company Acquires Willaims Rights **Source:** Pinball News Website **Type:** article **Published:** 2010-10-13 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/news/williamsrights.html --- ## Analysis Planetary Pinball Supply (PPS), a joint venture between Rick Bartlett and Matt Christiano, has acquired the Williams Electronics Games license and pinball parts manufacturing business from Mr. Pinball Australia. The acquisition grants PPS rights to manufacture Williams/Bally replacement parts and develop new games under the Bally trademark, with Mr. Pinball Australia transitioning to become a PPS distributor in the Australian market. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] PPS acquired the Williams Electronics Games license and pinball spare parts manufacturing business from Mr. Pinball Australia — _Official press release and FAQ from PPS, dated October 13, 2010_ - [HIGH] PPS has the right to manufacture new pinball games under the Bally mark and logo — _PPS press release and FAQ explicitly state license includes 'rights to manufacture and sell new Pinball games under the Bally mark and logo'_ - [HIGH] PPS acquired 40 active original Williams Electronics Games patents from Mr. Pinball Australia — _PPS FAQ: 'PPS also has been assigned 40 active pinball patents from Mr. Pinball Australia Pty Ltd'_ - [HIGH] The deal was closed early October 2010 and announced shortly thereafter — _PPS FAQ states 'The deal was closed early October, 2010 and was announced a few days later'_ - [HIGH] PPS is a US-based operation located in San Jose, California with operations across 3 facilities — _PPS press release and FAQ confirm San Jose headquarters and 3 operational facilities_ - [HIGH] Mr. Pinball Australia will continue as a separate business focused on local retail, repair, and parts sales in Australia — _FAQ and press release state MPBA 'will continue to operate as a Pinball Game retailer, repair, and local spare parts business'_ - [HIGH] Williams Electronics Games retains control and approval authority over PPS licensed products — _FAQ: 'WEG continues to be the authority for approval of new WMS/BLY licensed parts and products'_ - [HIGH] The Pinball Factory name will no longer be used; Mr. Pinball Australia will operate under its legal entity name — _Article states 'The Pinball Factory name will no longer be used' and FAQ confirms official name is 'Mr. Pinball Australia Pty Ltd'_ - [HIGH] PPS acquired pinball.com, pin2000.com, and pinball2000.com websites from Mr. Pinball Australia — _Article and press release confirm PPS has 'taken over' these sites and will manage them_ - [MEDIUM] A Medieval Madness remake planned by Wayne Gillard remains uncertain under new PPS ownership — _Article notes 'Doubt remains over the prospects for the proposed Medieval Madness re-make' as rights transfer to PPS would require future manufacturing to be done as PPS licensee_ ### Notable Quotes > "We are excited about the opportunity to utilize the Williams Electronics Games, Inc. intellectual property license which will help further accelerate new parts into the market." > — **Rick Bartlett, President of PPS**, October 13, 2010 > _Official statement on PPS's strategic direction and focus on accelerating parts availability_ > "PPS will work with WEG as its licensee. In addition, as with any licensee, PPS is obligated to notify WEG of any infringing activity that it becomes aware of." > — **PPS (via FAQ)**, October 13, 2010 > _Clarifies regulatory relationship and IP enforcement obligations under the license_ > "PPS will focus on the development of parts and possibly games for the pinball market...Our goal is to bring as many new replacement parts to the market as is practical." > — **PPS (via FAQ)**, October 13, 2010 > _Core business philosophy and commitment to parts-first strategy_ > "With Mr. Pinball Australia, parts would need to be shipped from manufacturing sites in the US and then re-shipped back to distributors, often in the US. The net result will be lower costs and quicker delivery to distributors, and hence to the end customers." > — **PPS (via FAQ)**, October 13, 2010 > _Business case for acquisition emphasizing operational efficiency gains_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Planetary Pinball Supply (PPS) | company | New joint venture company founded by Rick Bartlett and Matt Christiano; acquired Williams Electronics Games license and pinball parts business from Mr. Pinball Australia; based in San Jose, California | | Rick Bartlett | person | Co-founder and President of Planetary Pinball Supply; also owner of Bay Area Amusements; active in pinball community | | Matt Christiano | person | Co-founder of Planetary Pinball Supply; avid pinball collector; board member of Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame Museum | | Mr. Pinball Australia (Wayne Gillard) | company | Former owner of Williams/Bally license and parts manufacturing business; sold assets and license to PPS in October 2010; continues as local Australian retailer and PPS distributor | | Williams Electronics Games (WEG) | company | Controls intellectual property rights to Williams and Bally trademarks, copyrights, and patents; retains approval authority over PPS licensed products | | Bay Area Amusements | company | Separate company from PPS founded/owned by Rick Bartlett; acts as distributor for PPS products; sells parts for all game platforms beyond Williams/Bally | | Pinball News | organization | Independent pinball media outlet that broke news of 2005 sale to Mr. Pinball Australia and is now reporting on PPS acquisition | | The Pinball Factory | company | Former operating name for Mr. Pinball Australia; name will no longer be used following acquisition | | pinball.com | product | Website acquired by PPS; continues to provide Williams/Bally product support, technical information, forums, and original WMS downloads | | Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame Museum | organization | Museum where Matt Christiano serves as board member; indicates institutional pinball preservation focus | ### Topics - **Primary:** Licensing and IP Rights Transfer, Pinball Parts Manufacturing and Distribution, New Game Development under Bally Trademark - **Secondary:** Business Consolidation and Supply Chain Optimization, Williams/Bally Patent Portfolio Management, Community Support and IP Enforcement, International Business Restructuring (Australia to USA) - **Mentioned:** Game Remake Projects (Medieval Madness) ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.75) — PPS presents acquisition as beneficial for pinball community through improved parts availability, faster delivery, and lower costs. Founders positioned as community-minded enthusiasts rather than corporate entities. Tone is professional and reassuring regarding IP enforcement and business practices. ### Signals - **[business_signal]** Significant acquisition of Williams Electronics Games license and pinball parts manufacturing business; consolidation of IP rights from Australia to US-based company (confidence: high) — Planetary Pinball Supply formally acquires Williams/Bally license and 40 active patents; establishes US manufacturing and distribution infrastructure - **[market_signal]** PPS positions itself as community-focused and non-political; emphasizes commitment to parts availability and quality standards over enforcement-heavy approach (confidence: medium) — FAQ addresses community concern about 'harassment' by stating 'No, PPS is dedicated to bringing replacement parts to the market' and commitment to supporting licensed contract manufacturers - **[licensing_signal]** Williams Electronics Games retains approval authority and IP control over all PPS products; PPS acts as licensee subject to WEG oversight (confidence: high) — FAQ clarifies: 'WEG continues to be the authority for approval of new WMS/BLY licensed parts and products' and maintains enforcement obligations - **[market_signal]** Operational restructuring emphasizes cost reduction and efficiency gains through US-based supply chain consolidation (confidence: high) — FAQ explains prior model requiring re-shipping parts from US manufacturing to Australia then back to distributors; PPS structure eliminates this inefficiency - **[announcement]** Formal announcement of Medieval Madness remake uncertainty under new ownership; future manufacturing dependent on PPS approval and licensing (confidence: medium) — Article notes: 'Doubt remains over the prospects for the proposed Medieval Madness re-make...any future manufacturing of games would have to be done as a licensee of PPS' - **[product_strategy]** PPS signals intent to manufacture new pinball games under Bally trademark while prioritizing parts availability in near term (confidence: high) — FAQ states: 'In the short term, however, we will focus on increasing the number of replacement parts' with exploration of 'new or re-issued games' as future opportunity --- ## Transcript Date: 13th October 2010 In 2005, Pinball News broke the news of the sale to Mr Pinball Australia (Wayne Gillard) of various assets and licences to manufacture parts and whole games under the Bally Brand. The deal included the rights to licence parts manufacturers and distributors to produce and sell Williams-branded products, subject to approval by Williams Electronic Games. Now we can report that those rights have been sold to a new company, Planetary Pinball Supply. The PPS logo Planetary Pinball Supply (PPS) is a joint venture company set up by Rick Chris Bartlett of Bay Area Amusements and pinball collector Matt Christiano, based in San Jose, California, USA. The new company assumes the rights to manufacture new and existing parts, as well as the rights to make whole machines under the Bally name. The Pinball Factory name will no longer be used, but the current business of Mr Pinball Australia - repair, machines and parts sales - will continue and they will be a distributor for PPS products. In addition, PPS have taken over the pinball.com website along with pinball2000.com and pin2000.com which now all point to the PPS site.. Rick is keen to stress how PPS differs from Bay Area Amusements. Although the new company shares the same registered address, Bay Area will act as distributors for PPS, just like various other companies around the world. Doubt remains over the prospects for the proposed Medieval Madness re-make planned by Wayne several years ago. With the rights to build games transferred to PPS, any future manufacturing of games would have to be done as a licensee of PPS and sold through them. PPS produced a press release today and a FAQ to answer some of the more pressing concerns of pinball collectors. Here are both, starting with the press release: SAN JOSE, California (Oct 13, 2010) - Planetary Pinball Supply, Inc (PPS, http://www.planetarypinball.com) is pleased to announce that it has completed an agreement with Mr. Pinball Australia (The Pinball Factory) to assign and transfer it's Williams Electronics Games, Inc. Licenses, as well as to acquire its pinball spare parts manufacturing and distribution business. Planetary Pinball Supply, Inc (PPS) is a new company with headquarters in San Jose, California dedicated to the manufacture and distribution of Williams® and Bally® replacement pinball parts as well as to explore options for manufacturing new or re-issued games under the Bally Trademark. PPS will continue to operate www.pinball.com to showcase its products and will continue to provide Williams/Bally product support and technical information. In addition PPS will continue with the forum and other information and activities to promote more interest in pinball at www.pinball.com. PPS will leverage and expand the pinball parts development, manufacturing and distribution network setup by Mr. Pinball Australia. To this end, PPS will serve all existing Mr. Pinball Australia customers. "We are excited about the opportunity to utilize the Williams Electronics Games, Inc. intellectual property license which will help further accelerate new parts into the market." said Rick Chris Bartlett, President of PPS, who with partner Matt Christiano will manage the new company. Mr. Pinball Australia will continue to operate as a Pinball Game retailer, repair, and local spare parts business and becomes a distributor for PPS. For more information, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on our site at www.planetarypinball.com or contact: Planetary Pinball Supply, Inc Rick Chris Bartlett rick@planetarypinball.com phone: 408-426-4510 Here is the FAQ from Planetary Pinball Supply: Q: Who/What is Planetary Pinball Supply, Inc.? A: Planetary Pinball Supply, Inc (PPS) is a new company that will be focused on the manufacture, sales, and distribution of replacement WEG/BLY pinball parts and potentially new pinball games. PPS is a licensee of Williams Electronics Games, Inc. (WEG) and as such has the rights to use WEG copyright and trademark material. PPS also has been assigned 40 active pinball patents from Mr. Pinball Australia Pty Ltd (MPBA). Q: Who is part of PPS? A: PPS was founded by Rick Chris Bartlett and Matt Christiano. Both are very active in the pinball community - Rick started and runs Bay Area Amusements as well as owns a number of games, and Matt is an avid collector as well as board member of the Las Vegas Pinball Hall Of Fame Museum. Both have high tech backgrounds and have worked at several Silicon Valley companies for many years. Q: What is the deal between Mr. Pinball Australia and Planetary Pinball? A: PPS has acquired the pinball spare parts manufacturing and distribution business from Mr. Pinball Australia. In addition, Mr. Pinball Australia assigns and transfers it's Williams Electronics Games, Inc. license to PPS which enables PPS to make Williams®/Bally® spare parts using WEG Intellectual Property. Included are the rights to manufacture and sell new Pinball games under the Bally mark and logo. PPS assumes all the existing MPBA parts supplier agreements. Q: When was this deal announced and what was the timing around it? A: The deal was closed early October, 2010 and was announced a few days later. Confidential discussions began in the summer of 2010. Q: Is Williams Electronics Games, Inc. involved in this? A: Absolutely. Williams Electronics Games, Inc. (WEG) controls the rights to make pinball parts and games under the Williams and Bally trademarks, as well as the copyrights to all Williams and Bally (BLY) games and associated parts. WEG licensed the rights to make spare parts for all the existing Williams and Bally games, as well as the rights to manufacture new games under the Bally mark and logo to MPBA. These rights were transferred to PPS in October, 2010. WEG continues to be the authority for approval of new WMS/BLY licensed parts and products, and PPS will work with WEG as its licensee. In addition, as with any licensee, PPS is obligated to notify WEG of any infringing activity that it becomes aware of. Q: How is Bay Area Amusements related to PPS? A: Planetary Pinball Supply, Inc and Bay Area Amusements, LLC (BAA) are separate companies, with different ownership. PPS is focused on Williams/Bally parts manufacture and distribution and will explore how to make new game titles available. Bay Area Amusements sells parts for all game platforms beyond WMS/BLY and sells directly to the end customer. PPS will continue to supply the current set of Mr. Pinball Australia distributors and will continue to expand distribution as appropriate. BAA is one of those distributors and therefore will be a distributor of PPS. PPS will operate independently (separate inventory, separate financials). However, PPS will leverage certain logistical capabilities of BAA which can help lower costs of parts to our customers. PPS will sell to all distributors on an equal basis. Q: Where is PPS located? A: PPS is headquartered in San Jose, CA and will operate out of 3 different facilities which are already operational. Q: Is PPS yet another Online Pinball Store? A: PPS is primarily focused on manufacturing and wholesale distribution of WMS/BLY parts, and as such we will build upon the distribution model of Mr. Pinball Australia Pty Ltd. We will operate an online retail presence primarily to showcase the replacement parts that we supply. Q: When will we see the first parts from PPS? A: Immediately - the existing array of parts (artwork, molded parts, common parts, etc) are available from PPS and we have been working for the last few months to build up the capabilities needed to pick up what Mr. Pinball Australia has developed and build from there. We will also soon be announcing a series of new products as well as capabilities to further drive additional products into the market. Q: Why is this good for Pinball? A: There are a number of reasons. First, the principals of PPS are passionate Pinball enthusiasts who are both familiar with the pinball community as well as the pinball marketplace. Second, we are working on accelerating the introduction of parts into the marketplace and can take advantage of a US-based business to speed up time and lower costs. Finally, with Mr. Pinball Australia, parts would need to be shipped from manufacturing sites in the US and then re-shipped back to distributors, often in the US. The net result will be lower costs and quicker delivery to distributors, and hence to the end customers - the pinball owners. Q: So PPS is now the WMS licensee - what does that mean? A: It means that we are able to manufacture, sell, and distribute replacement pinball parts for Williams/Bally games . Our license also allows for the manufacture of new pinball games (new titles or remakes) under the Bally mark and logo. We also have access to WMS Intellectual Property (parts drawings, artwork, etc) which will help us to create additional parts needed in the marketplace. Q: Is The Pinball Factory no longer in business? A: Mr. Pinball Australia Pty Ltd (their official name) remains in business selling pinball games, parts, and accessories in the local Australian market. They will no longer operate under the name "The Pinball Factory". PPS did not acquire the company but the license to the WMS Intellectual Property rights and their distribution business and spare parts inventory. Q: Will PPS make games? A: PPS has acquired the right to produce (with WEG approval) new pinball machines under the Bally mark and logo. We will explore options to bring a limited number of new or re-issued games to the market. In the short term, however, we will focus on increasing the number of replacement parts which are available to preserve the games which are out there. Q: What happens to pinball.com? A: pinball.com, pin2000.com, pinball2000.com have been transferred to, and will be managed by PPS. The sites will continue to have original WMS downloads, game information, technical information as they had before. Q: What can companies or individuals do with respect to rightfully producing parts? A: Parts that fall under WEG or Bally copyrights, Trademarks, or existing current patents cannot be produced and sold without explicit permission by Williams Electronics Games, Inc or its licensees. Parts covered by active patents or games utilizing parts under such patents cannot be produced without explicit agreement by the patent holder. PPS has about 40 active original WEG patents assigned. Q: Is PPS just another company to harass pinball people for making parts? A: No, PPS is dedicated to bringing replacement parts to the market. But there are business realities. First of all, PPS is under obligation to notify WEG of copyright and trademark infringements discovered by PPS. Second, there is significant investment in any pinball parts business as well as significant financial risk relative to small run pinball parts, limited demand for parts, and complexity and time required to make parts. PPS will actively support (as did Mr. Pinball Australia) the use of contract manufacturers to create licensed parts. If you have a product idea or capability which might benefit the pinball community please contact us and work with us to make the product available thru legitimate channels. We see this as a great way to get more parts into the marketplace, so we will continue and expand as appropriate. In addition, there needs to be a chain for quality and safety for the parts. Often there are infringing parts which are sub-standard and this hurts the overall pinball hobby. With PPS, all parts are run through the approval process to insure the best part is able to reach the market. Q: The Pinball world seems have a lot of Politics, Camps, etc - is PPS just another? A: PPS will focus on the development of parts and possibly games for the pinball market. Historically, the PPS founders have personally straddled all of the various 'camps' as our primary focus was to work with any suppliers who could help provide badly needed parts into the market. We will work within the industry and seek advice from all that we can - including of course the pinball enthusiast, collector, owner, operator, and small businesses that support this market. There is natural competition, but we also see a large demand for new replacement parts. Our goal is to bring as many new replacement parts to the market as is practical. We will bring you more news on this development as we receive it here at Pinball News. Back to the News page Back to the front page _(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: dc169087-07c5-4618-b85d-2e379e4ed932*