Are Crawlspace Medic franchisees allowed to copy or duplicate Confidential Information?
Crawlspace_Medic Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
8.1 Confidential Information. Developer acknowledges and accepts that during the term of this Agreement, Developer will have access to Franchisor's trade secrets, including, but not limited to, methods, processes, customer lists, vendor partnerships and/or relationships, sales and technical information, financial information, costs, product prices and names, software tools and applications, website and/or email design, products, services, equipment, technologies and procedures relating to the operation of a Crawlspace Medic outlet; the Manual; methods of advertising and promotion; instructional materials; any other information which Franchisor may or may not specifically designate as "confidential" or "proprietary"; and the components of the System, whether or not such information is protected or protectable by patent, copyright, trade secret or other proprietary rights (collectively referred to herein as the "Confidential Information"). Developer shall not, during the term of this Agreement and thereafter,
communicate or divulge to, or use for the benefit of, any other person or entity, and, following the expiration or termination of this Agreement, shall not use for Developer's own benefit, any Confidential Information that may be communicated to Developer or of which Developer may be apprised in connection with the development of Crawlspace Medic outlets under the terms of this Agreement. Developer shall not at any time copy, duplicate, record or otherwise reproduce any Confidential Information, in whole or in part, or otherwise make the same available to any person, without Franchisor's prior written consent. The covenant in this Section 8.1 shall survive the expiration, termination or transfer of this Agreement or any interest herein and shall be perpetually binding upon Developer.
- 8.2 Protection of Information.
Developer shall take all steps necessary, at Developer's own expense, to protect the Confidential Information and shall immediately notify Franchisor if Developer finds that any Confidential Information has been divulged in violation of this Agreement.
- 8.3 Noncompetition Covenants.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 42)
What This Means (2024 FDD)
According to the 2024 Crawlspace Medic Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are restricted from copying or duplicating confidential information. The agreement specifies that the Developer (franchisee) shall not copy, duplicate, record, or reproduce any Confidential Information, either in whole or in part, or make it available to any person without the franchisor's prior written consent. This restriction applies during the term of the agreement and continues even after its expiration or termination. This covenant is perpetually binding upon the Developer.
This provision aims to protect Crawlspace Medic's trade secrets, methods, customer lists, vendor partnerships, sales and technical data, financial information, costs, product prices and names, software tools, website design, products, services, equipment, technologies, procedures, the operations manual, advertising methods, and instructional materials. These elements collectively constitute the "Confidential Information" essential to the Crawlspace Medic system. Franchisees must take necessary steps to protect this information and notify Crawlspace Medic if any confidential information is divulged in violation of the agreement.
The agreement also includes clauses pertaining to the Covenantor, who is an employee of the franchisee. The Covenantor is not allowed to make copies of documents containing confidential information without Crawlspace Medic's express written permission. The Covenantor can only disclose confidential information to other employees of the franchisee for training purposes to assist in the operation of the franchised business. The Covenantor must surrender any material containing confidential information upon request or termination of employment.