During what time periods is a Crawlspace Medic franchisee prohibited from revealing Confidential Information?
Crawlspace_Medic Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
eveloper shall immediately terminate and Developer shall (i) immediately cease all development operations pursuant to this Agreement; and (ii) comply with the non-disclosure and non-competition covenants contained in Article 8.
8 NON-DISCLOSURE AND NON-COMPETITION COVENANTS.
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.
Source: Item 14 — PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION (FDD page 32)
What This Means (2024 FDD)
According to the 2024 Crawlspace Medic FDD, a developer is restricted from divulging Confidential Information during the term of the agreement and thereafter. The developer cannot communicate, divulge, or use Confidential Information for the benefit of any other person or entity. Following the expiration or termination of the agreement, the developer cannot use any Confidential Information for their own benefit that may have been communicated to them in connection with the development of Crawlspace Medic outlets.
The agreement specifies that the developer shall not copy, duplicate, record, or reproduce any Confidential Information, in whole or in part, or make it available to any person without Crawlspace Medic's prior written consent. This covenant regarding Confidential Information survives the expiration, termination, or transfer of the agreement and is perpetually binding upon the developer.
This perpetual restriction on the use of Confidential Information is stricter than standard non-disclosure agreements in franchising, which often have a time limit. Prospective Crawlspace Medic developers should understand that their obligation to protect Confidential Information extends indefinitely, even after they are no longer associated with the Crawlspace Medic franchise.