Does Cicis consider knowledge of the operating results and financial performance of Cicis Restaurants as Confidential Information?
Cicis Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
You and your Owners and personnel may from time to time be provided with or otherwise be exposed to certain information about the System and the development and operation of Cicis Restaurants, including your Restaurant (some, but not all of which may be "trade secrets" under applicable law), that we consider and protect as our confidential information (regardless of whether they are marked as such), including the following (collectively, the "Confidential Information"):
- (1) growth and development plans, strategies, and forecasts related to the System;
- (2) site selection criteria;
- (3) initial or additional training and operations materials, including recipes and the Manuals;
- (4) the System Standards and other methods, formats, specifications, standards, systems, procedures, techniques, market research, customer data, knowledge, and experience used in developing, promoting and operating Cicis Restaurants;
- (5) knowledge of specifications for, and vendors of, assets and other products and supplies;
- (6) any software or other technology which is proprietary to us, our affiliates, or the System, including digital passwords and identifications and any source code of, and data, reports, and other materials generated by, the software or other technology;
- (7) customers of Cicis Restaurants (including your Restaurant); and
- (8) knowledge of the operating results and financial performance of Cicis Restaurants (including your Restaurant).
Confidential Information does not include information, knowledge, or know-how, which is lawfully known to the public without violation of applicable law or an obligation to us or our affiliates.
You agree that you, your Owners, your employees and independent contractors will adopt and implement reasonable procedures to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of the Confidential Information. Further, you and your Owners, and your employees, and independent contractors will not, during the Term or at any time thereafter, disclose any of our Confidential Information to any other Person or use any of our Confidential Information for any purposes other than the business you own and operate pursuant to this Agreement.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD pages 64–65)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Cicis's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, knowledge of the operating results and financial performance of Cicis Restaurants is considered Confidential Information. This includes information pertaining to the franchisee's own restaurant.
This means that as a Cicis franchisee, you are obligated to protect this information and prevent its unauthorized use or disclosure. You are prohibited from disclosing this information to any other person or using it for any purposes other than the business you own and operate under the Franchise Agreement, both during the term of the agreement and afterward.
Cicis requires franchisees, their owners, employees, and independent contractors to adopt and implement reasonable procedures to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of Confidential Information. This is a standard practice in franchising, as franchisors need to protect proprietary information that gives them a competitive advantage. Franchisees must ensure that anyone who has access to this information is bound by the same confidentiality obligations.
However, information that is already lawfully known to the public, without any violation of applicable law or obligation to Cicis or its affiliates, is not considered Confidential Information. This exception is also typical, as franchisors cannot claim confidentiality over information that is already in the public domain.