Does Bojangles own any patents or patent applications material to the Restaurant or the Bojangles System as of the date of the disclosure document?
Bojangles Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
As of the date of this disclosure document, we do not own any patents or patent applications that are material to your Restaurant or the Bojangles System.
We claim copyright protection in our building prototype plans and specifications, advertising and promotional materials, websites, social media sites, artistic designs and a variety of forms and programs. The information contained in these items may be used only with our permission, and at our direction. We also own business and technical information, such as our Manual, training materials, market research, formulas, patterns, programs, devices, compilations of information, methods, techniques, and processes that we maintain as trade secrets. We have not registered those materials with the United States Registrar of Copyrights.
You must operate your Restaurant in accordance with the Manual. The Manual may be provided to you by electronic access rather than physical, written copy. You must treat the Manual, any other manuals created for or approved for use in the operation of your Restaurant, and the information contained in them, as confidential, and must use reasonable efforts to maintain this information as secret and confidential. You must not copy, duplicate, record or otherwise reproduce these materials, in whole or in part, or otherwise make them available to any unauthorized person. We may periodically revise the contents of the Manual, and you must comply with each new or changed standard. You must ensure that the Manual is kept current at all times. In the event of any dispute as to the contents of the Manual, the terms of the master copy of the Manual maintained by us at our home office shall be controlling.
You must notify us immediately if you learn about an infringement on our and your use of any item that may be copyrighted by us. However, we are not obligated by the Franchise Agreement, nor otherwise, to protect any rights that may be granted to you or to protect you against claims of infringement or unfair competition with respect to them.
In the event that litigation involving any items that may be copyrighted is instituted or threatened against you, you must promptly notify us. We will conduct the defense and bear the expense of such litigation, and will be entitled to settle or otherwise dispose of the litigation on terms which, in our sole discretion, we may decide. You must cooperate fully with us in defending or settling such litigation.
Source: Item 14 — PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION (FDD pages 52–53)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Bojangles's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, as of the date of the document, Bojangles does not own any patents or patent applications that are material to a franchisee's restaurant or the Bojangles system. However, Bojangles does claim copyright protection in its building prototype plans and specifications, advertising and promotional materials, websites, social media sites, artistic designs and a variety of forms and programs.
Bojangles also owns business and technical information, such as their Manual, training materials, market research, formulas, patterns, programs, devices, compilations of information, methods, techniques, and processes that they maintain as trade secrets. Franchisees must operate their restaurant in accordance with the Manual, which may be provided electronically. The manual and its contents are considered confidential, and franchisees must use reasonable efforts to maintain this confidentiality. Franchisees are prohibited from copying or reproducing these materials or making them available to unauthorized persons.
Bojangles may periodically revise the contents of the Manual, and franchisees must comply with each new or changed standard. Franchisees must notify Bojangles immediately if they learn about an infringement on the company's copyrighted items. However, Bojangles is not obligated to protect any rights granted to franchisees or to protect them against claims of infringement or unfair competition. In the event of litigation involving copyrighted items, franchisees must promptly notify Bojangles, who will conduct the defense and bear the expense of such litigation and will be entitled to settle the litigation on terms they decide.