What is the Franchisee required to do regarding individuals having access to Boulder Designs' Trade Secrets and Confidential Information?
Boulder_Designs Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Franchisee shall at all times ensure that its copy of the Manual is available at the Approved Location in a current and up-to-date manner. Whether the Manual is in paper form or stored on computer-readable media, or both, Franchisee shall maintain the Manual in a secure manner at the Approved Location. If the Manual is in electronic form, Franchisee shall maintain the Manual in a password-true file. Franchisee shall only grant authorized personnel, as defined in the Manual, access to the Manual or any key, combination or passwords needed for access to the Manual. All persons whom Franchisee permits to have access to the Manuals or any other Confidential Information must first be required by Franchisee to sign the Confidentiality Agreement provided by Franchisor.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 50)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Boulder Designs' 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees have specific obligations regarding individuals' access to the company's trade secrets and confidential information. Before providing access to any individual, the franchisee must ensure that the person signs a Confidentiality Agreement provided by Boulder Designs. This agreement is designed to protect the company's proprietary information. The franchisee must maintain the franchise manual, which contains trade secrets and confidential information, in a secure manner at the approved location, whether it is in paper or electronic form, and limit access to authorized personnel only. If the manual is in electronic form, it must be kept in a password-protected file. These measures aim to prevent unauthorized disclosure or use of sensitive information. Franchisees must also ensure that their employees comply with all requirements, specifications, standards, operating procedures, and rules set forth in the Franchise Agreement, the Manual, or other communications supplied by Boulder Designs.
The confidentiality obligations extend beyond the termination of an individual's relationship with the franchisee. Even after an employee, agent, officer, director, executive, manager, or member leaves the franchisee's organization, their obligations to protect Boulder Designs' trade secrets and confidential information remain in effect. The franchisee is entitled to communicate these obligations to any future customer or employer of the individual, as deemed necessary to protect the franchisee's rights and obligations. This ensures that confidential information is safeguarded even after an individual is no longer directly associated with the Boulder Designs franchise.
Moreover, all ideas, concepts, know-how, techniques, advertising, or materials concerning the Boulder Designs system, or developed using trade secrets or confidential information, are the sole and exclusive property of the franchisor. Franchisees are required to promptly disclose any such developments to Boulder Designs. This includes developments created by the franchisee, its owners, employees, or other covered persons. Any advertising materials submitted by the franchisee for review become the franchisor's property, which the franchisor may use or distribute as deemed appropriate, without compensation to the franchisee. This underscores the franchisor's control over the intellectual property and system standards within the Boulder Designs franchise network.