What is the scope of the confidentiality agreement that a Crepe De Licious franchisee must sign?
Crepe_De_Licious Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
al Information and Trade Secrets.
We will disclose parts of the Confidential Information and Trade Secrets to you as we deem necessary or advisable for the development of your Crepe de licious Franchise during training and in guidance and assistance furnished to you under the Franchise Agreement, and you may learn or obtain from us additional Confidential Information and Trade Secrets during the term of the Franchise Agreement. The Confidential Information and Trade Secrets are valuable assets of ours and are disclosed to you on the condition that you, and your owners if you are a business entity, and employees agree to maintain the information in confidence by entering into a confidentiality agreement that we can enforce. Nothing in the
Franchise Agreement will be construed to prohibit you from using the Confidential Information or Trade Secrets in the operation of other Crepe de licious Franchises during the term of the Franchise Agreement.
You must notify us within three days after you learn about another's use of language, a visual image, or a recording of any kind, that you perceive to be identical or substantially similar to one of our Copyrighted Works or use of our Confidential Information or Trade Secrets, or if someone challenges your use of our Copyrighted Works, Confidential Information, or Trade Secrets. We will take whatever action we deem appropriate, in our sole and absolute discretion, to protect our rights in and to the Copyrighted Works, Confidential Information, or Trade Secrets, which may include payment of reasonable costs associated with the action. However, the Franchise Agreement does not require us to take affirmative action in response to any apparent infringement of or challenge to your use of any Copyrighted Works, Confidential Information, or Trade Secrets, or claim by any person of any rights in any Copyrighted Works, Confidential Information, or Trade Secrets. You must not directly or indirectly contest our rights to our Copyrighted Works, Confidential Information, or Trade Secrets. You may not communicate with anyone except us, our counsel, or our designees regarding any infringement, challenge, or claim. We will take action as we deem appropriate regarding any infringement, challenge, or claim, and the sole right to control exclusively any litigation or other proceeding arising out of any infringement, challenge, or claim under any Copyrighted Works, Confidential Information, or Trade Secrets. You must sign any and all instruments and documents, give the assistance, and do acts and things that may, in the opinion of our counsel, be necessary to protect and maintain our interests in any litigation or proceeding or to protect and maintain our interests in the Copyrighted Works, Confidential Information, or Trade Secrets.
No patents or patents pending are material to us at this time.
We have the right to inspect, copy, and use all records with respect to the customers, suppliers, and other services providers of, and related in any way to, your Crepe de licious Franchise. This includes, without limitation, all databases (whether in print, electronic, or other form), including, among other things, all names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and customer purchase records. We may use or transfer the records in any way we wish, both before and after any termination, expiration, repurchase, transfer, or otherwise. We may contact any or all of your customers, suppliers, and other service providers for quality control, market research, and such other purposes as we deem appropriate, at our sole discretion.
You must disclose to us all ideas, techniques, and products concerning the development and operation of your Crepe de licious Franchise that you or your employees conceive or develop during the term of the Franchise Agreement. You must grant to us, and agree to obtain from your owners or employees, a perpetual, non-exclusive, and worldwide right to use these ideas, techniques, and products concerning the development and operation of your Crepe de licious Franchise that you or your employees conceive or develop during the term of the Franchise Agreement. We will have no obligation to make any lump sum or ongoing payments to you with respect to any idea, concept, method, technique, or product. You must agree that you will not use, nor will you allow any other person or entity to use, any of these ideas, techniques, or products without obtaining our prior written approval.
ITEM 15 OBLIGATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ACTUAL OPERATION OF THE FRANCHISE BUSINESS
The Crepe de licious Franchise will be managed by you, or if you are an entity, by one of your owners who is a natural person with at least 25% ownership interest and voting power in the entity ("Managing Owner"), unless you are participating in the Management Program. Under certain circumstances, we may allow you to appoint a designated manager ("Designated Manager") to run the dayto-day operations of your Crepe de licious Franchise. The Designated Manager must successfully complete
our training program (See Item 11). We may require that the Designated Manager have an ownership interest in the legal entity of the Franchise owner. If you replace a Designated Manager, the new Designated Manager must satisfactorily complete our training program at your own expense.
Any Designated Manager and, if you are an entity, any officer that does not own equity in the franchisee entity must sign the System Protection Agreement, the form of which is attached to this Franchise Disclosure Document in Exhibit G. All of your employees, independent contractors, agents, or representatives that may have access to our Confidential Information must sign a Confidentiality Agreement (unless they already signed a System Protection Agreement), the current form of which is attached to this Franchise Disclosure Document in Exhibit G.
Source: Item 14 — PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION (FDD pages 45–46)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Crepe De Licious's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees, their owners (if the franchisee is a business entity), and employees must agree to maintain the confidentiality of the Confidential Information and Trade Secrets by entering into a confidentiality agreement that Crepe De Licious can enforce. Crepe De Licious will disclose Confidential Information and Trade Secrets as necessary for the development of the Crepe De Licious franchise during training and ongoing assistance. This information is considered a valuable asset of Crepe De Licious.
The Confidential Information includes the Operations Manual, electronic information and communications, sales and promotional materials, the development and use of the System, standards, specifications, policies, procedures, information, concepts and systems on, knowledge of, and experience in the development, operation, and franchising of Crepe de licious Franchises, training materials and techniques, information concerning product and service sales, operating results, proprietary recipes and cooking methods, financial performance, and other financial data of Crepe de licious Franchises, and other related materials. Where appropriate, certain information has also been identified as trade secrets.
The Franchise Agreement does not prevent franchisees from using Confidential Information or Trade Secrets in the operation of other Crepe De Licious franchises during the term of the Franchise Agreement. Franchisees must notify Crepe De Licious within three days if they learn about another party's use of language, a visual image, or a recording that is substantially similar to Crepe De Licious's Copyrighted Works, Confidential Information, or Trade Secrets, or if someone challenges the franchisee's use of these items. Crepe De Licious has the right to inspect, copy, and use all records related to the franchisee's customers, suppliers, and other service providers, including databases with names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and customer purchase records. Crepe De Licious may use or transfer these records as they wish, both before and after any termination, expiration, repurchase, transfer, or otherwise, and may contact any of the franchisee's customers, suppliers, and other service providers for quality control, market research, and other purposes at their discretion.
Furthermore, franchisees must disclose to Crepe De Licious all ideas, techniques, and products concerning the development and operation of their Crepe De Licious franchise that they or their employees conceive or develop during the term of the Franchise Agreement. Franchisees must grant Crepe De Licious a perpetual, non-exclusive, and worldwide right to use these ideas, techniques, and products, and must ensure that their owners or employees also grant this right. Crepe De Licious is not obligated to make any payments for these ideas, and franchisees cannot use or allow others to use these ideas without Crepe De Licious's prior written approval. Franchisees must sign any documents and provide assistance necessary to protect Crepe De Licious's interests in any litigation or proceeding related to the Copyrighted Works, Confidential Information, or Trade Secrets.