Does Christies International Real Estate currently hold any patents?
Christies_International_Real_Estate Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
We reserve (for ourselves and our affiliates) reserve all rights to engage in all activities associated with CHRISTIES INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE Marks, and all rights to engage in any business, licensing, franchising, or other activities associated with other brands, marks, and real estate brokerage systems, anywhere in the world, not specifically granted to you under this Agreement or expressly prohibited under this Agreement, or expressly prohibited from us engaging in under this Agreement.
Without limiting the preceding sentence, we (for ourselves and our affiliates) specifically
reserve the right, from any location at any time, without any compensation to you or any other Affiliate and regardless of whether it competes with the Business, the following rights:
Source: Item 14 — PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION (FDD pages 40–41)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
Based on the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, there is no mention of Christies International Real Estate holding any patents. The document does discuss trademarks and service marks that the company uses to distinguish its brand. It also discusses the rights that Christies International Real Estate reserves for itself and its affiliates concerning the brand's marks and real estate brokerage systems.
Christies International Real Estate maintains rights to engage in activities associated with its marks and other brands, and real estate brokerage systems. These rights are reserved globally and are not specifically granted to the franchisee under the License Agreement. The document also states that the franchisee cannot represent that they own any of the marks.
Prospective franchisees should be aware that they are licensing the right to use the Christies International Real Estate trademarks and business system, but they do not acquire any ownership of these intellectual property assets. It would be prudent for a potential franchisee to inquire directly with Christies International Real Estate about any patents or pending patent applications related to their business model or technology.