Are Devon Creek franchisees and Principals prohibited from communicating or divulging Confidential Information during the term of the Agreement?
Devon_Creek Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
- 19.2 Confidential Information.
Franchisee along with its Principal(s) acknowledge and accept that during the term of this Agreement, Franchisee and any Principal 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, costs, pricing, software tools and applications, website and/or email design, products, services, equipment, technologies and procedures relating to the operation of the Franchised Business; 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").
Neither Franchisee nor any Principal shall, 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 their own benefit, any Confidential Information that may be communicated to Franchisee or any Principal or of which Franchisee or any Principal may be apprised in connection with the operation of the Franchised Business under the terms of this Agreement.
Franchisee and any Principal shall not divulge and make any Confidential Information available to anyone other than those of Franchisee's employees who require the Confidential Information to operate the Franchised Business and who have themselves entered into confidentiality and non-compete agreements containing the same provisions as contained
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 45)
What This Means (2024 FDD)
According to Devon Creek's 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees and their principals are indeed prohibited from communicating or divulging confidential information both during the term of the agreement and thereafter. The FDD specifies that franchisees and principals acknowledge they will have access to Devon Creek's trade secrets, including methods, processes, customer lists, vendor partnerships, sales and technical data, costs, pricing, software tools, website design, products, services, equipment, technologies, procedures, the operations manual, advertising methods, instructional materials, and components of the Devon Creek system. This information is collectively referred to as "Confidential Information."
The franchise agreement explicitly states that neither the franchisee nor any principal shall, during the term of the agreement and even after its expiration or termination, communicate, divulge, or use any Confidential Information for the benefit of any other person or entity. After the agreement ends, they are also prohibited from using this information for their own benefit. This restriction is designed to protect Devon Creek's competitive advantage and proprietary knowledge.
Devon Creek also requires that franchisees take necessary steps to protect the Confidential Information at their own expense and to immediately notify Devon Creek if they discover any breaches of confidentiality. Franchisees are only allowed to share Confidential Information with their employees who need it to operate the franchised business, provided those employees have also signed confidentiality and non-compete agreements with provisions similar to those in the franchise agreement. This ensures a layered approach to protecting Devon Creek's sensitive business information.