What must Cicis franchisees do to protect the Manuals against improper use and disclosure?
Cicis Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
The Manuals and any passwords and access credentials are part of our Confidential Information (defined below) and must be protected against improper use and disclosure.
You may disclose the Manuals to your employees who need to know its contents provided they are themselves bound by written obligations of confidentiality.
You may not at any time copy, duplicate, record, or otherwise reproduce, distribute or publish any part of the Manuals or use its contents in any other business.
To protect our reputation and goodwill and to maintain high standards of operation under our Marks, you will develop and operate your Restaurant in accordance with the Manuals, other written directives we may issue to you from time to time, whether or not such directives are included in the Manuals, and any other manuals and materials created or approved for use in the operation of your Restaurant (for the avoidance of doubt, references in this Agreement to the “Manuals” shall include all such written directives and such other manuals and materials that we provide you from time to time). The Manuals form part of our Confidential Information (defined below) and, as between us and you, will at all
times remain our sole property. Any physical copies of the Manuals that we provide to you must be kept in a secure place on your Restaurant premises. Both physical and electronic copies of the Manuals may be made accessible only to those of your Owners and employees who need to know their contents and only after they have signed a confidentiality agreement, in form and substance we approve, pursuant to which they agree to maintain the same level of confidence to which you are bound under this Agreement. We may, from time to time, revise the contents of the Manuals, and you hereby expressly agree to comply with each new or changed standard. In the event of any dispute as to the contents of the Manuals, the terms of the master copy of the Manuals that we maintain will control.
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, the Manuals are part of Cicis's Confidential Information and must be protected against improper use and disclosure. Franchisees may disclose the Manuals to employees who need to know the contents, but only if those employees are bound by written obligations of confidentiality. Franchisees are prohibited from copying, duplicating, recording, reproducing, distributing, or publishing any part of the Manuals, or using the contents in any other business.
To further protect Cicis's reputation and operational standards, franchisees must operate their restaurants in accordance with the Manuals and any other written directives issued by Cicis. Physical copies of the Manuals must be kept in a secure place on the restaurant premises. Both physical and electronic copies can only be accessed by owners and employees who need to know the contents and have signed a confidentiality agreement approved by Cicis.
Franchisees must also implement reasonable procedures to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of Confidential Information by themselves, their owners, employees, and independent contractors. During the term of the agreement and thereafter, franchisees cannot disclose any Confidential Information to any other person or use it for any purposes other than the business they own and operate under the Franchise Agreement. Cicis retains the right to revise the contents of the Manuals, and franchisees must comply with any new or changed standards. In case of any dispute, the terms of the master copy of the Manuals maintained by Cicis will control.