Upon termination or expiration of the Chatime MDA, what must the developer immediately cease doing?
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. | ||
| MDA: § 15 | Upon expiration or termination of your MDA, you will immediately (i) cease directly or indirectly identifying yourself as a current or former developer, (ii) ) pay all unpaid monies owed to us or any affiliate within ten business days, and (iii) cease all development efforts. |
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 Multi-Unit Development Agreement (MDA), the developer must immediately take three actions. First, the developer must cease directly or indirectly identifying themselves as a current or former developer. This means they cannot represent themselves as being affiliated with Chatime in any way after the agreement ends.
Second, the developer must pay all unpaid monies owed to Chatime or any of its affiliates within ten business days. This includes any outstanding fees, royalties, or other financial obligations that have not been settled by the termination date.
Third, the developer must cease all development efforts. This means they can no longer engage in any activities related to establishing new Chatime locations, including site selection, construction, or marketing. These obligations are clearly outlined in the FDD to ensure a clean break and protect Chatime's brand and interests after the MDA concludes.