During what period are Bonchon franchisees prohibited from revealing confidential information?
Bonchon Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
You agree to use and permit the use of our Confidential Information (as defined below) solely in connection with the operation of your franchised Bonchon Business. You further agree that you will never – during the Initial Term or any Successor Term of this Agreement, or any time after this or any Successor Agreement expires or terminates, or your rights under this Agreement or any Successor Agreement are assigned or terminated – divulge or use any of our Confidential Information for the benefit of yourself, your owners (if you are a business entity) any third party (including any person, business entity or enterprise of any type or nature), nor will you directly or indirectly aid any such third party to imitate, duplicate or "reverse engineer" any of our Confidential Information.
Source: Item 14 — PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION (FDD pages 68–69)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Bonchon's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are restricted from divulging confidential information during the Initial Term, any Successor Term, or at any time after the Franchise Agreement expires or is terminated. This obligation extends to preventing the use of confidential information for the benefit of the franchisee, their owners (if a business entity), or any third party. Franchisees are also prohibited from aiding any third party in imitating, duplicating, or reverse engineering Bonchon's confidential information.
This restriction is significant because it protects Bonchon's proprietary information, including the Bonchon System, products, services, equipment, technologies, recipes, preparation techniques, policies, standards, manuals, and other operational details. The definition of "Confidential Information" is broad, encompassing virtually all aspects of the Bonchon business model and operations. This means franchisees must exercise extreme caution in how they handle and share information related to their Bonchon business, even after they are no longer part of the franchise system.
The perpetual nature of this confidentiality obligation is common in franchising to safeguard the franchisor's competitive advantage. Prospective Bonchon franchisees should carefully review the definition of "Confidential Information" in the Franchise Agreement to fully understand the scope of these restrictions. They should also be aware that any violation of this confidentiality clause could result in legal action from Bonchon.
Bonchon franchisees need to ensure that their employees and anyone else with access to confidential information also understand and adhere to these restrictions. This may involve implementing internal policies and procedures to protect confidential information and requiring employees to sign confidentiality agreements. By taking these steps, franchisees can minimize the risk of inadvertently breaching their confidentiality obligations to Bonchon.