Can a Brightstar Care franchisee transfer their license to use the Athena Business System (ABS)?
Brightstar_Care Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Subject to your continued compliance with this Agreement, we grant, and you accept, a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited license to use the Athena Business System ("ABS"), in binary or object code form only, during the Initial Term with the Third Party Materials (defined in Section 1.8.1) we designate and provided to you by us or our affiliate, BrightStar Technology Group, LLC ("BrightStar Technology"), or any other affiliate of ours. We and BrightStar Technology reserve the right to upgrade and change the ABS from time to time. Use of the ABS is for the limited purpose of operating the Agency within the Protected Territory as we prescribe in the Operations Manual or otherwise in writing. We or our licensors will retain all right, title, copyright, trade secrets, patents and other proprietary rights in and to the ABS, and all modifications, enhancements and any derivative works thereof regardless of origin (and accordingly have the right to license others to use ABS). You do not acquire any rights, express or implied, in the ABS or derivative works thereof, other than those specified in this Agreement, and all rights in and to the ABS that are not expressly granted herein are reserved to us. You may not, and will not permit others to, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise attempt to create derivative works from the ABS, otherwise alter the ABS, or discover its source code. The ABS is licensed for use in the United States, and you may not export the ABS or make it available outside of the United States without our written permission. Neither we nor any of our affiliates, including BrightStar Technology, will have any duty or obligation to indemnify or defend you in connection with your use of ABS or any Third Party materials.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD pages 117–118)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Brightstar Care's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the license to use the Athena Business System (ABS) is explicitly non-transferable. The agreement grants franchisees a non-exclusive and limited license to use the ABS during the initial term, but this license cannot be transferred to another party. Brightstar Technology Group, LLC, or any other affiliate, retains the right to upgrade and change the ABS.
This means that if a Brightstar Care franchisee sells or transfers their franchise, the new franchisee will not automatically inherit the previous franchisee's license to use the ABS. The new franchisee will need to obtain their own license from Brightstar Care. This is a standard practice in franchising, as franchisors typically want to maintain control over who has access to their proprietary systems and software.
This restriction ensures that Brightstar Care maintains control over the ABS and can ensure that all users of the system are properly trained and compliant with the franchise agreement. It also protects Brightstar Care's intellectual property rights in the ABS. A prospective franchisee should consider this when evaluating the costs and requirements associated with acquiring a Brightstar Care franchise, particularly if they are purchasing an existing franchise from a previous franchisee.