What is Crepe De Licious entitled to do with improvements created by a franchisee or their employees?
Crepe_De_Licious Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
You agree to assign and do hereby assign to us, all right, title and interest in and to the Improvements, including the right to grant sublicenses to any such Improvement.
You shall fully disclose the Improvements to us, without disclosure of the Improvements to others, and shall obtain our written approval prior to using such Improvements.
Any such Improvement may be used by us and all other Crepe de licious franchisees without any obligation to you for royalties or other fees.
We may, at our discretion, apply for and own copyrights, patents, trade names, trademarks and service marks relating to any such Improvement and you shall cooperate with us in securing such rights.
We may also consider such Improvements as our property and trade secrets.
In return, we shall authorize Franchisee to utilize any Improvement that may be developed by other franchisees and is authorized generally for use by other franchisees.
All Improvements created by you or any other person or entity retained or employed by you are our property, and we shall be entitled to use and license others to use such Improvements
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 57)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Crepe De Licious Franchise Disclosure Document, any improvements created by a franchisee or their employees become the property of Crepe De Licious. The franchisee must assign all rights and interests in these improvements to Crepe De Licious, which includes the right to sublicense them.
The franchisee is obligated to fully disclose any improvements to Crepe De Licious without sharing them with others, and they must obtain written approval from Crepe De Licious before using the improvements themselves. Crepe De Licious and its other franchisees can then use these improvements without owing any royalties or fees to the originating franchisee.
Crepe De Licious has the discretion to pursue copyrights, patents, trade names, trademarks, and service marks for any such improvement. They may also consider these improvements as their property and trade secrets. In return, Crepe De Licious will authorize the franchisee to use any improvement developed by other franchisees that is generally approved for use within the franchise system. This clause ensures that any innovation or enhancement to the Crepe De Licious system becomes the property of the franchisor, who can then disseminate it throughout the franchise network.