Does Christian Brothers Automotive reserve the right to withhold consent under the agreement?
Christian_Brothers_Automotive Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
e manner directed from time to
time by Franchisor. Franchisee is prohibited from using any Mark, or any part thereof,
with any prefix, suffix, or other modifying words, terms, designs or symbols except as
permitted in writing by Franchisor. Franchisee may not use any Mark in connection with
the sale of any product or service not authorized in writing by Franchisor. Franchisee will
use the Marks only for the operation of the Franchised Business. Any unauthorized use of
the Marks will constitute an infringement of Franchisor's rights and a material breach of
this Agreement.
5.10 Limited License Only; Rights Reserved. The right and license granted hereunder to
Franchisee to utilize the Marks is limited and nonexclusive. As noted in paragraph 2.04
above, Franchisor has and retains the rights, among others, to itself use the Marks in
connection with offering or selling any services and products; to grant other Mark licenses;
and, to develop and establish other systems using the same or similar Marks, or any other
proprietary marks, and to grant licenses or franchises without any obligation to Franchisee.
Franchise Agreement (Ver 04-14-2025)
5.11 Online Use of Marks. Franchisee shall not, without the prior written approval of
Franchisor, use the Marks or any abbreviation or other name associated with Franchisor
and/or the System as part of any e-mail address, domain name, and/or other identification
of Franchisee in any electronic medium. Franchisee agrees not to transmit or cause any
other party to transmit advertisements, solicitations, marketing information, promotional
information or any other information whatsoever regarding Christian Brothers Automotive
businesses by e-mail or any other Electronic Media without Franchisor's prior written
consent and in accordance with such specific programs, policies, terms and conditions as
Franchisor may from time to time establish. "Electronic Media" shall include, but not be
limited to, blogs, microblogs, social networking sites (such as Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter/X and Instagram), video-sharing and photo-sharing sites (such as YouTube, Vimeo
and TikTok), review sites (such as Google or Yelp), marketplace sites (such as Facebook
Marketplace, eBay and Craigslist), Wikis, chat rooms and virtual worlds. Franchisee
agrees that (a) Franchisor exclusively owns the domains "cbac.com", "cbauto.net" and
"christianbrothersauto.com" and all other domains now or hereafter related to the System,
(b) any emails sent to or received by email addresses under those domains are exclusively
owned by Franchisor, and (c) those domains and emails are subject to inspection by
Franchisor at any time without notice to Franchisee.
5.12 Website Limitation.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPTS (FDD pages 76–372)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Christian Brothers Automotive Franchise Disclosure Document, Christian Brothers Automotive retains specific rights regarding consent within the franchise agreement. Christian Brothers Automotive must provide written permission for a franchisee to use any marks related to products or services not explicitly authorized by them. Unauthorized use of these marks constitutes a breach of the agreement. Christian Brothers Automotive also requires prior written approval before a franchisee can use the marks or any associated names in any electronic medium, including email addresses and domain names. Franchisees also need prior written consent from Christian Brothers Automotive before transmitting any marketing or promotional information via electronic media.
Christian Brothers Automotive is willing to provide franchisees with access to confidential information, but only if assured that the franchisee will not use this information to compete with Christian Brothers Automotive or disclose it without prior written consent. This highlights the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of proprietary information and preventing its misuse.
Christian Brothers Automotive also reserves the right to test, analyze, inspect, or randomly sample the product or service of any supplier, including those proposed by the franchisee. The franchisee is responsible for reimbursing Christian Brothers Automotive for the costs associated with this testing, regardless of whether the supplier is ultimately approved. Furthermore, Christian Brothers Automotive retains the discretion to modify the specifications for equipment, supplies, and qualifications for service providers. Finally, franchisees must obtain prior written consent from Christian Brothers Automotive before removing themselves from the Christian Brothers Automotive system after termination of the Franchise Agreement.