What specific materials must a Chatime franchisee deliver to the franchisor upon termination or non-renewal of the Franchise Agreement?
Chatime Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
| i. Franchisee's obligations on termination/non-renewal | FA: §17 | Upon expiration or termination of your Franchise Agreement, you will immediately (i) cease directly or indirectly identifying yourself as a current or former franchisee, (ii) deliver to us all copies of the Operations Manual and Global Policies and Procedures, all forms of stationery, business cards, all advertising materials, original and all copies of databases and supplier lists, and all other property of ours, (iii) discontinue and forever cease use of the System name, the Trademarks, any trade name, trademark, or commercial symbol that suggests any association with us, and any of our confidential information and other Intellectual Property, (iv) remove all signage containing any of our trademarks or any marks deceptively similar to them, (v) execute all documents we require to transfer, assign, or cancel any trademarks, service marks, domain |
|---|---|---|
| names, or other commercial symbols or intellectual | ||
| property you applied for registration for or registered, | ||
| (vi) | ||
| provide us with all records, files, and other | ||
| materials we require pertaining to your Franchise | ||
| Agreement, | ||
| and | ||
| (vii) | ||
| pay | ||
| all | ||
| unpaid | ||
| monies | ||
| owed | ||
| to | ||
| us | ||
| or | ||
| any | ||
| affiliate | ||
| within | ||
| ten | ||
| business | ||
| days. |
Source: Item 17 — Renewal, Termination, Transfer, and Dispute Resolution (FDD pages 43–52)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Chatime's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, upon the expiration or termination of the Franchise Agreement, a franchisee is obligated to deliver specific materials to Chatime. These include all copies of the Operations Manual and Global Policies and Procedures, ensuring that the franchisee no longer has access to Chatime's proprietary operational guidelines. Additionally, the franchisee must hand over all forms of stationery, business cards, and advertising materials, preventing any further representation as a current Chatime franchisee.
Furthermore, the franchisee is required to provide original copies and all duplicates of databases and supplier lists, protecting Chatime's confidential business relationships and data. The franchisee must also furnish all other property belonging to Chatime, ensuring the return of any assets owned by the franchisor. Moreover, the franchisee must provide all records, files, and other materials pertaining to the Franchise Agreement as required by Chatime.
In addition to physical and digital materials, the franchisee must discontinue and permanently cease the use of the Chatime system name, trademarks, and any trade names or commercial symbols that suggest an association with Chatime. This includes removing all signage containing Chatime's trademarks or any deceptively similar marks. The franchisee must also execute all documents required by Chatime to transfer, assign, or cancel any trademarks, service marks, domain names, or other commercial symbols or intellectual property that the franchisee applied for registration or registered. Finally, the franchisee must pay all unpaid monies owed to Chatime or any affiliate within ten business days.