Can Churchs Chicken grant licenses for its Proprietary Marks to entities other than existing franchisees?
Churchs_Chicken Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Your right and license to use the Proprietary Marks is non-exclusive. We have the following rights under the Franchise Agreement:
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- We may grant other licenses for the Proprietary Marks in addition to those licenses already granted to existing franchisees;
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- We may develop and establish other franchise systems for the same, similar or different products or services using proprietary marks not now or later designated as part of the System, and to grant licenses to them, without providing you any right in them; and
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- We may develop and establish other systems for the sale, at wholesale or retail, of similar or different products using the same or similar Proprietary Marks, without providing you with any right in them.
Source: Item 13 — TRADEMARKS (FDD pages 45–47)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Churchs Chicken's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, Churchs Chicken retains the right to grant licenses for its Proprietary Marks to entities beyond its existing franchisees. This means that while a franchisee is granted a license to use the Churchs Chicken trademarks, this license is non-exclusive.
This non-exclusive right allows Churchs Chicken to grant additional licenses to others, develop other franchise systems using different proprietary marks, and even establish other systems for selling similar products using the same or similar Proprietary Marks. These actions can be done without providing the franchisee any rights to these new systems or licenses.
For a prospective franchisee, this implies that Churchs Chicken could potentially authorize other businesses, including competitors, to use the same trademarks or similar marks for similar products. This could increase competition in the market and potentially affect the franchisee's business. It is important for potential franchisees to understand that their license to use the Churchs Chicken Proprietary Marks is not exclusive and that Churchs Chicken has broad rights to license and utilize these marks as they see fit.