Who does the Buona franchisee assign their rights to Identifiers to after termination or expiration?
Buona Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
- (d) Franchisee acknowledges that all telephone numbers, facsimile numbers, telephone directory listings, e-mail addresses, social media accounts, websites, internet addresses, listings or other presence on the Internet (collectively "Identifiers") used in the operation of the Franchised Business constitute Franchisor's assets, and upon termination or expiration of this Agreement, Franchisee will take such action within five (5) days to assign to Franchisor or Franchisor's designee as determined by Franchisor, all of Franchisee's right, title and interest in and to such Identifiers and will notify the telephone company and all listing agencies, internet service providers, domain name registrars, social media platforms or networks of the termination or expiration of Franchisee's right to use any Identifiers, and to authorize a transfer of the same to Franchisor, or at Franchisor's direction, to its designee.
Further, Franchisee shall deliver to Franchisor any passwords or account manager access information for any Identifiers.
Franchisee acknowledges that Franchisor has the sole right to, and interest in, all Identifiers used by Franchisee to promote the Franchised Business and/or associated with the Marks.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPTS (FDD pages 78–356)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Buona's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, upon termination or expiration of the franchise agreement, the franchisee must assign all rights, title, and interest in their Identifiers to Buona or Buona's designee within five days. Identifiers include telephone numbers, fax numbers, telephone directory listings, email addresses, social media accounts, websites, internet addresses, listings, or other internet presences used for the franchised business.
Buona franchisees must also notify the telephone company, listing agencies, internet service providers, domain name registrars, and social media platforms of the termination or expiration of their right to use these Identifiers. This notification authorizes the transfer of the Identifiers to Buona or its designee. Franchisees are further required to provide Buona with any passwords or account manager access information for these Identifiers.
Buona retains the sole right to and interest in all Identifiers used by the franchisee to promote the franchised business or associated with the Marks. This ensures that Buona maintains control over its brand identity and online presence, even after a franchise agreement ends. This is a fairly standard practice in franchising, as it protects the brand's reputation and ensures a consistent message across all locations, even after a franchisee exits the system.