During what period are Cicis franchisees prohibited from disclosing Confidential Information?
Cicis Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
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.
You may divulge such Confidential Information only to those of your Owners, employees and independent contractors who must have access to it in order to operate your Restaurant and then only if they are bound to the same obligations regarding confidentiality to which you are obligated under this Section. You may not, and you will ensure that your Owners, employees and independent contractors will not, without our prior written consent, copy, duplicate, record, or otherwise reproduce any Confidential Information, in
whole or in part, nor otherwise make the same available to any unauthorized Person. Prior to disclosing any Confidential Information to any Person that you are permitted under this Section to disclose such information, you will obtain the execution by such Person of covenants similar to those set forth in this Section 9.B, on our then-current form of agreement. The covenant in this Section 9.B. will survive the expiration, termination, or Transfer of this Agreement or any interest herein.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD pages 64–65)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Cicis's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees, their owners, employees, and independent contractors are prohibited from disclosing Confidential Information both during the term of the Franchise Agreement and at any time thereafter. This obligation extends to preventing unauthorized use or disclosure of Confidential Information through reasonable procedures.
This means that even after the franchise agreement expires, is terminated, or is transferred, the franchisee remains legally bound to protect Cicis's Confidential Information. This includes, but is not limited to, growth and development plans, site selection criteria, training and operations materials, system standards, recipes, methods, customer data, knowledge of vendors, proprietary software, and operating results.
The franchisee must ensure that anyone who has access to Cicis's Confidential Information, such as employees, owners, and independent contractors, are also bound by the same confidentiality obligations. This is typically achieved through written agreements. Franchisees are not allowed to copy, duplicate, record, or reproduce any Confidential Information without prior written consent from Cicis.
This perpetual confidentiality clause is a standard practice in franchising to protect the franchisor's proprietary information and maintain a competitive advantage. Prospective Cicis franchisees should carefully review the definition of "Confidential Information" in the franchise agreement to fully understand the scope of their obligations.