Does Crown Gold Exchange own rights in, or licenses to, patents that are material to the franchise?

The 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document for Crown Gold Exchange does not explicitly state whether Crown Gold Exchange owns or licenses any patents material to the franchise. However, the FDD does address ownership of 'Innovations.' According to the franchise agreement, Crown Gold Exchange will automatically own all ideas, plans, improvements, concepts, methods, and techniques relating to the business conceived or developed by the franchisee, its employees, agents, or contractors.

This means that any new innovations created by a Crown Gold Exchange franchisee automatically become the property of the franchisor, Crown Gold Franchising. The franchisee must disclose all innovations to Crown Gold Franchising, who has the right to use and incorporate any innovations into the system without compensating the franchisee. The franchisee is also required to execute any documents reasonably requested by Crown Gold Franchising to document their ownership of innovations.

Prospective franchisees should inquire with Crown Gold Exchange about any patents related to the Crown Gold Exchange system. It would be prudent to understand what aspects of the business model, if any, are patented or patent-pending, and how that might affect the franchisee's operation.