Does a Cool Binz franchisee acquire any ownership interest in the Confidential Information?
Cool_Binz Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
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- You acknowledge and agree that you do not acquire any interest in Confidential Information, other than the right to utilize that which is disclosed to you in operating the COOL BINZ Business during the term of this Agreement, and that the use or duplication of any Confidential Information in any other business would constitute an unfair method of competition. You also acknowledge and agree that the Confidential Information is proprietary, includes our trade secrets, and is disclosed to you only on the condition that you must, during and at all times after the term of this Agreement:
- a. not use Confidential Information in any other business or capacity;
- b. maintain the absolute confidentiality of Confidential Information;
- c. not make unauthorized copies of any portion of Confidential Information disclosed via electronic medium or in written or other tangible form;
- d. adopt and implement all reasonable procedures that we prescribe from time to time to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of Confidential Information, including, without limitation, restrictions on disclosure to employees of the COOL BINZ Business and others; and
- e. immediately upon the expiration of termination of this Agreement, return and cease using in any way all Confidential Information and provide us with immediate access to all computer or other electronic or other storage media, including without limitation, hard drives, memories, CDs, floppy disks, DVDs, zip drives, PDAs, jump drives or other peripheral drives and memory cards, containing any Confidential Information for the purpose of removing such Confidential Information or, if mutually agreed upon, surrender such devices to us.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPTS (FDD pages 63–238)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Cool Binz's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees do not acquire any ownership interest in the company's confidential information. Instead, franchisees are only granted the right to use the confidential information disclosed to them for operating their Cool Binz business during the term of the Franchise Agreement.
The document explicitly states that using or duplicating any confidential information in another business would be considered an unfair method of competition. Franchisees acknowledge that the confidential information is proprietary and includes Cool Binz's trade secrets. Therefore, franchisees must maintain absolute confidentiality, avoid unauthorized copies, and implement procedures to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure.
Upon termination of the Franchise Agreement, franchisees must return and cease using all confidential information and provide Cool Binz with access to all storage media containing such information for removal. This ensures that Cool Binz retains complete control over its proprietary information and prevents franchisees from using it for any purpose other than operating their franchised business during the agreed-upon term.