After termination of a Buona franchise agreement, what steps must a franchisee take to disassociate from the Buona system?
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 Franchisor's direction, to its designee.
Further, Franchisee shall deliver to Franchisor any passwords or account manager access information for any Identifiers.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPTS (FDD pages 78–356)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Buona's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, upon termination of the franchise agreement, franchisees must take several steps to disassociate themselves from the Buona system. Franchisees must immediately cease operating as a Buona Business and must not represent to the public that their restaurant is or was a Buona Business. They are also prohibited from using any menus, recipes, confidential formulas, equipment, methods, procedures, techniques, trademarks, and service marks associated with the Buona system. This includes refraining from using any signs, menus, advertising, promotional materials, stationery, forms, packaging, containers, or any other items displaying Buona's trademarks.
Furthermore, if the franchisee continues to operate a restaurant or other business, they cannot use any reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or imitation of Buona's marks that could cause confusion or deception. Franchisees must remove all unique markings, colors, décor, and other features that identify the business as a former Buona location. This includes removing signs and all trade dress from the premises and destroying printed materials.
Additionally, all telephone numbers, fax numbers, directory listings, email addresses, social media accounts, websites, and internet addresses used for the Buona franchise are considered Buona's assets. Within five days of termination, the franchisee must assign all rights and interests in these identifiers to Buona or its designee. The franchisee must also notify the relevant service providers (telephone company, listing agencies, internet service providers, etc.) of the termination and authorize the transfer of these identifiers to Buona. Franchisees must also provide Buona with any passwords or account access information for these identifiers.