Does the Dog Haus FDD state that the Confidential Information constitutes a trade secret?

According to Dog Haus's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the Confidential Information is considered proprietary, confidential, and constitutes a trade secret of Dog Haus and its affiliates. This confidential information includes tangible and intangible details related to Dog Haus's business operations, products, services, recipes, material sources, client management software, data, formulations, patterns, programs, devices, processes, business relationships, contact information, developmental work, improvements, research plans, marketing methods, business plans, financial statements, licenses, prices, vendors, customer information, employee data, designs, code, documentation, diagrams, marketing materials, trademarks, sales techniques, inventions, and databases.

Dog Haus protects its confidential information by limiting its disclosure to authorized parties, requiring franchisees to acknowledge and maintain its confidentiality in writing, monitoring electronic access with passwords, and requiring franchisees to return all confidential information upon termination of their franchise agreements. Franchisees are only allowed to share confidential information with supervisory or managerial personnel who need it to perform their job duties.

The FDD emphasizes that any failure to comply with confidentiality requirements will cause irreparable harm to Dog Haus. In such cases, Dog Haus is entitled to seek injunctive relief and recover all associated legal costs and attorneys' fees. This underscores the importance Dog Haus places on protecting its trade secrets and confidential information, and the potential legal ramifications for franchisees who fail to uphold these obligations.