Ainsworth to Pay Aristocrat US$6 Million Under Australian Patent Licensing Agreement

Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd is to pay the Aristocrat group an aggregate AUD8.5 million (US$6.0 million) under a patent licensing agreement covering the Australian market. The agreement, effective immediately, includes a licence for certain patents held by Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd and Aristocrat Technologies Inc, along with the settlement and release of potential claims relating to Ainsworth’s historic use of those patents.

The payment will be made in instalments over the three-and-a-half-year term of the agreement. Other commercial terms are to remain confidential.

Licence Structure and Mutual Obligations

Aristocrat has granted Ainsworth a non-exclusive and non-transferable licence covering Aristocrat’s Australian gameplay feature patents, including its Australian Hold & Spin patent family, for Ainsworth-branded products in Australia. Aristocrat has also granted Ainsworth a non-exclusive licence to its Australian responsible gaming patents.

In return, Ainsworth has granted Aristocrat a non-exclusive and non-transferable licence covering all of Ainsworth’s patents for Aristocrat-branded products in Australia. The two companies have released each other from claims relating to past use of the licensed patents and agreed to a mutual covenant not to challenge each other’s licensed patents. The arrangement follows negotiations between the companies concerning the use of Aristocrat’s game-feature patents, following Aristocrat’s success in a 2025 Australian Federal Court patent case.

Executive Assessment of Strategic Value

Ainsworth chief executive Ryan Comstock said the agreement provided the company with the “certainty required to confidently implement our strategic growth initiatives in the Australian market”. Comstock said the deal primarily covered game features including Aristocrat’s Hold & Spin family, allowing Ainsworth to incorporate them when making, selling, servicing, upgrading or converting its branded electronic gaming machines, as well as online and mobile games, in Australia. That includes when Ainsworth manufactures and services products “through third parties”.

Comstock noted that Ainsworth has secured so-called “pass through rights”, meaning its customers, distributors and venues “are automatically licensed to use, operate, service and resell units supplied during the term of the agreement”. “Importantly we have also obtained a royalty free licence of Aristocrat’s responsible gaming patents such as digital wallets, account-based play, player limits, self-exclusion, player messaging and AI based risk detection,” Comstock stated. “This licence will remain in place until each responsible gaming patent expires, which is well beyond the term of the agreement.”

Reporting: GGRAsia

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