After termination of the Buona franchise agreement, what documents is the franchisee allowed to retain copies of?
Buona Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Upon termination or expiration of this Agreement, all rights granted to Franchisee under this Agreement will immediately terminate, Franchisee shall cease to be a licensed franchisee of Franchisor, and:
(a) Franchisee shall immediately cease to operate the Franchised Business as an Buona Business, and shall not thereafter, directly or indirectly, represent to the public that the restaurant is or was a Buona Business;
(b) Franchisee shall immediately and permanently cease to use, by advertising or in any manner whatsoever, any menus, recipes, confidential formulae, equipment, methods, procedures, techniques associated with the System, the Marks, and Franchisor's other trade names, trademarks and service marks associated with the System.
In particular, and without limitation, Franchisee shall cease to use all signs, menus, advertising and promotional materials, stationery, forms, packaging, containers and any other articles which display the Marks;
(c) In the event Franchisee continues to operate or subsequently begins to operate a restaurant or other business, Franchisee shall not use any reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or colorable imitation of the Marks in conjunction with such other business which is likely to cause confusion or mistake or to deceive, and further agrees to remove all unique markings, colors, décor, Marks and other features ("Trade Dress") that identify the Franchised Business as a former Buona Business, and otherwise take all necessary steps to disassociate itself from the System and Franchisor, including but not limited to, the removal of signs and all Trade Dress from the premises of the Franchised Business and destruction of printed materials.
(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 Franch
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPTS (FDD pages 78–356)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
Based on the 2025 FDD, the Buona franchise agreement stipulates that upon termination or expiration, the franchisee must cease operating as a Buona business and discontinue using any materials associated with the brand, including menus, recipes, and trademarks. The franchisee is obligated to remove all signs and trade dress that identify the business as a former Buona location. Franchisees must also assign all telephone numbers, websites, and social media accounts to Buona.
However, the FDD does not explicitly state which documents the franchisee is allowed to retain copies of after the termination of the franchise agreement. The document does state that the franchisee must return any printed copies of the manual to Buona or destroy any files containing the manual upon termination of the agreement.
Therefore, a prospective Buona franchisee should seek clarification from Buona regarding which specific documents they are permitted to keep copies of after the franchise agreement is terminated. This information is crucial for understanding the full scope of post-termination obligations and ensuring compliance with the franchise agreement.