Within how many days of termination or expiration must a Buona franchisee assign their rights to Identifiers to Buona or its designee?
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.
Franchisee hereby irrevocably appoints Franchisor, with full power of substitution, as Franchisee's true and lawful attorney-in-fact, which appointment is coupled with an interest, to execute such directions and authorizations as may be necessary or prudent to accomplish the foregoing.
Franchisee further appoints Franchisor to direct the telephone company and all listing agencies, internet service providers, domain name registrars, social media platforms or networks or any other third parties having control over the Identifiers to transfer such Identifiers to Franchisor or Franchisor's designee.
The telephone company and all listing agencies, internet service providers, domain name registrars, social media platforms or networks or any other third parties having control over the Identifiers may accept such direction by Franchisor pursuant to this Agreement as conclusive evidence of Franchisor's rights to the Identifiers and Franchisor's authority to direct their transfer.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 78)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Buona's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a franchisee must assign all rights to their Identifiers to Buona or its designee within five days of the termination or expiration of their Franchise Agreement. Identifiers include telephone numbers, fax numbers, directory listings, email addresses, social media accounts, websites, and internet addresses used for the Buona restaurant.
This means that upon the end of the franchise term, the franchisee must transfer control of all online and telecommunications presence to Buona. The franchisee is also required to notify all relevant service providers, such as telephone companies, internet service providers, and social media platforms, about the termination or expiration and authorize the transfer of the Identifiers to Buona or its designee.
Furthermore, the franchisee must provide Buona with all passwords or account manager access information for these Identifiers. Buona retains the sole right and interest in all Identifiers used by the franchisee to promote the franchised business and associated marks. To ensure compliance, the franchisee irrevocably appoints Buona as their attorney-in-fact to execute any necessary directions or authorizations for the transfer of the Identifiers. This appointment is coupled with an interest, meaning it is legally binding and enforceable.