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Just saw this note on the STTNG IPDB entry (emphasis added):
Patent #5,350,174 [BELOW THE PLAYFIELD BALL DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR A PINBALL GAME] filed October 28, 1993. Granted September 27, 1994 to Ritchie et al. Assignee is Williams Electronic Games, Inc.
EDIT: Yep, Williams (Rick?) still holds the patent:
Quoted from o-din:That didn't stop Gottlieb, Sega and maybe others from using them.
They could have licensed the patent. Happens all the time. But ForceFlow is right; the time has run out on the patent.
Bring on the subways, Stern!
Quoted from o-din:Before Metallica, what was the last Stern to have a subway?
NASCAR (2005) had one. I know, I cleaned it.
Quoted from Wickerman2:Seems like a lot of games on the "top" list use subways...maybe they were on to something?
It would be interesting to see the breakdown of the ratings for subway-enabled games. I bet there are some stinkers too. 
I couldn't find an easy way to get that list from IPDB. What was the first game with a subway?
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