Upon termination or non-renewal of the Chatime Franchise Agreement, what must a franchisee 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 |
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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 must immediately cease certain activities. Specifically, the franchisee must stop directly or indirectly identifying themselves as a current or former Chatime franchisee.
Additionally, the franchisee is obligated to discontinue and permanently stop using the Chatime system name, trademarks, any trade name, trademark, or commercial symbol that suggests any association with Chatime. This also includes ceasing the use of any of Chatime's confidential information and other intellectual property.
These stipulations are fairly standard in franchise agreements to protect the brand's identity and prevent confusion among customers after a franchise relationship ends. A prospective Chatime franchisee should understand these obligations and be prepared to fully comply with them upon termination or non-renewal of their agreement.