What efforts must a Buona franchisee make to prevent employees from operating a restaurant substantially similar to a Buona Business?

According to Buona's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees must use their best efforts to prevent employees from using the Buona system, marks, or from operating a restaurant substantially similar to a Buona Business. This obligation is part of protecting Buona's trade secrets and proprietary information.

Buona considers certain information, knowledge, and know-how concerning the company and its system to be trade secrets. This includes standards, specifications, management systems, recipes, menus, techniques, financial information, the manual, and business operations and procedures. If these trade secrets were used by others, it would give them a substantial competitive advantage.

To protect this proprietary information, franchisees cannot disclose, use, or permit the use of any part of the manual or the Buona system without prior written consent, except as required by law or authorized in the Franchise Agreement. Franchisees must also immediately inform Buona if they learn about any unauthorized use of this proprietary information. Buona retains control over any litigation related to its proprietary information.