What are the prohibited actions a Clear Pest Pros franchisee must avoid regarding the Clear Pest Pros website?
Clear_Pest_Pros Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
ove such DBA at our discretion. All filings or affidavits, following your receipt from us of an approved DBA, must state that the filing or affidavit is made as "a franchisee of Clear Pest Pros." The approved DBA is the only DBA that you may use. You may not use a different name under any circumstances, including as a domain name, URL address, marketing, or for any other function.
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- We, or our parent, is the lawful and sole owner of the domain name www.CLEARPESTPROS.com. You cannot register any of the Marks that are now or in the future owned by us or any abbreviation, acronym or variation of the Marks, or any other name that could be deemed confusingly similar, as Internet domain names. We retain the sole right to advertise the System on the Internet and to create, operate, maintain and modify, or discontinue use of any website using the Marks. You may access our website. Except as we authorize in writing in advance, you may not: (i) link or frame our website; (ii) conduct any business or offer to sell or advertise any products or services on the worldwide web; or (iii) create or register any Internet domain names in connection with your Clear Pest Pros Business. The only exception is that you may list the Clear Pest Pros Business in an online directory.
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- In order to obtain approval of any use of the Marks, including all advertising containing any Marks, your identification or your DBA, you must submit such proposed use, identification or DBA to us for review at least ten (10) business days before the proposed first use. If we take no action within such ten (10) business day period, such use, identification or DBA shall be deemed disapproved. The approval or disapproval is at our sole discretion. We also may, at our sole discretion, require you to immediately discontinue use of any Mark, advertising, identification or DBA at any time, even if previously approved or provided by us.
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- You must submit and receive our written approval in advance for any person that you desire to act as a representative for you in connection with local promotion of the Clear Pest Pros Business or Marks in a public media.
D. DISCONTINUANCE OF USE OF MARKS.
If it becomes advisable at any time in our sole discretion to modify or discontinue the use of any Mark and/or use one (1) or more additional or substitute names or marks, you must comply with our direction no later than ten (10) days after you have received notice. We will not be liable to you for any expenses, losses, or damages you sustain as the result of any such addition, modification, substitution, or discontinuance of a Mark, and you must not commence or join in any litigation or other proceeding against us for any such expenses, losses, or damages.
5. CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION.
A. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.
- We possess (and will continue to develop and acquire) certain confidential information (the "Confidential Information") relating to the development and
operation of Clear Pest Pros Businesses. The Confidential Information includes (without limitation):
- a. general operating procedures for a Clear Pest Pros Business;
- b. the proprietary Clear Pest Pros Software;
- c. personnel guidelines for hiring, training, retaining, promoting, and supporting the marketing and sales staff;
- d. the Initial Training;
- e. written marketing and advertising materials, audiotapes, videos, and programs for their utilization;
- f. knowledge of specifications and suppliers of certain equipment and supplies for the Clear Pest Pros Business;
- g. information on operating results and financial performance of Clear Pest Pros Businesses other than your own;
- h. The Operations Manual and the Clear Pest Pros owners intranet website and its contents;
- i. sales guidelines and strategies for developing business relationships in the insurance industry;
- j. The Customer Information, as defined in Section 5.B below; and
- k. Any other information we deem confidential.
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Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD pages 67–68)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Clear Pest Pros' 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees face several restrictions regarding the company's website and online presence. Clear Pest Pros retains sole control over the brand's primary website, including its creation, operation, maintenance, and modification. Franchisees are permitted to access the website but are explicitly prohibited from linking to or framing it without prior written authorization from Clear Pest Pros.
Furthermore, franchisees cannot conduct business, offer to sell, or advertise any products or services on the internet through their own websites, nor can they register any internet domain names connected to their Clear Pest Pros business, using the company's marks or confusingly similar names. The only exception to these rules is that franchisees may list their Clear Pest Pros business in online directories. Franchisees also promise to use, subscribe to, and pay for a customized website connected to Clear Pest Pros' website and managed by their website provider, and they cannot attempt to redirect any traffic on the customized website.
Clear Pest Pros maintains discretion and control over the website's timing, design, contents, and continuation. While Clear Pest Pros may create interior pages containing information about individual Clear Pest Pros businesses, they may require franchisees to prepare all or a portion of the page for their specific business, at the franchisee's expense, using a provided template, subject to Clear Pest Pros' approval before posting. Franchisees are required to establish and maintain a separate profile, page, or other presence on social media for the business in accordance with the System Standards, and they must obtain prior written approval of the content to be posted on such social media pages. Upon termination or expiration of the Franchise Agreement, all social media pages and associated passwords shall be transferred to Clear Pest Pros.