For how long after termination or expiration of the All County franchise agreement is the franchisee restricted from operating a similar business?
All_County Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
23.2. Marks. Upon the termination, for any reason, or expiration of this Agreement:
23.2.1. you may not directly or indirectly at any time or in any manner (except with respect to other ALL COUNTY® businesses you own and operate) identify yourself or any business as a current or former ALL COUNTY® business, or as one of our licensees or franchisees, use any Marks, any colorable imitation thereof or other indicia of an ALL COUNTY® business in any manner or for any purpose or utilize for any purpose any trade name, trademark or service mark or other commercial symbol that indicates or suggests a connection or association with us;
23.2.2. you agree to take such action as may be required to cancel all fictitious or assumed names or equivalent registrations relating to your use of any Marks;
23.2.3. if we do not exercise our option to purchase the Business pursuant to Article 23.6., you agree to deliver to us within thirty (30) days after the Notification Date (as defined in Article 23.6.1.) all signs, sign-faces, sign-cabinets, marketing materials, forms, packaging and other materials containing any Marks or otherwise identifying or relating to an ALL COUNTY® business and allow us, without liability to you or third parties, to remove all such items from the Business;
23.2.4. if we do not exercise our option to purchase the Business pursuant to Article 23.6., you agree that, after the Notification Date, you will promptly and at your own expense make such alterations as we may specify to distinguish the Business clearly from its former appearance and from other ALL COUNTY® businesses so as to prevent confusion therewith by the public;
23.2.5. if we do not exercise our option to purchase the Business pursuant to Article 23.6., you agree that, after the Notification Date, you will notify the telephone company and all telephone directory publishers of the termination or expiration of your right to use any telephone, facsimile or other numbers and any regular, classified or other telephone directory listings associated with any Marks, authorize the transfer of such numbers and directory listings to us or at our direction and/or instruct the telephone company to forward all calls made to your telephone numbers to numbers we specify;
Source: Item 17 — Renewal, Termination, Transfer, and Dispute Resolution (FDD pages 31–34)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to All County's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, upon termination or expiration of the franchise agreement, the franchisee is restricted from operating a similar business indefinitely. The franchisee cannot directly or indirectly identify themselves or any business as a current or former All County business. They are prohibited from using any of All County's marks or anything that imitates those marks. This restriction applies at any time and in any manner, except with respect to other All County businesses the franchisee may own and operate.
Specifically, the franchisee must not use any trade name, trademark, service mark, or other commercial symbol that indicates or suggests a connection or association with All County. This prevents a former franchisee from leveraging All County's brand recognition to benefit a competing business. The franchisee must also take action to cancel any assumed names or registrations related to the use of All County's marks.
Additionally, if All County does not exercise its option to purchase the business, the franchisee must deliver all signs, marketing materials, and other items containing All County's marks within 30 days of the Notification Date. The franchisee is also responsible for altering the business's appearance to clearly distinguish it from its former appearance and from other All County businesses to avoid public confusion. The franchisee must also notify the telephone company and directory publishers about the termination of their right to use any telephone numbers or listings associated with All County's marks and authorize the transfer of such numbers to All County.