What level of diligence is a recipient expected to exercise in safeguarding the Confidential Information of Dog Haus?

According to Dog Haus's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a candidate is expected to exercise the highest degree of diligence in safeguarding the Confidential Information. The candidate must fully and strictly maintain the confidentiality of the Confidential Information. This obligation extends to not disclosing or revealing the Confidential Information to any person, except another person actively and directly participating in the acquisition of the franchise with the candidate.

Even in the case of sharing information with another person involved in the franchise acquisition, the candidate must first disclose the identity of such person to Dog Haus in writing and obtain that person's signature on a Non-Disclosure Agreement. This requirement ensures that all parties with access to the Confidential Information are bound by confidentiality obligations. The only exception to this requirement is if the disclosure is covered by attorney-client privilege.

The Confidential Information includes all tangible and intangible information relating to Dog Haus's business operations, styles, products, and services, recipes, sources of materials and equipment, client management and other software, data, other content, formulations, patterns, compilations, programs, devices and processes, business relationships, contact information for industry professionals, developmental or experimental work and services, improvements, discoveries, plans for research, potential new or supplemental products and services, websites, advertisements or ancillary products and services, marketing and selling methods and/or plans, business plans, budgets and unpublished financial statements, licenses, prices and costs, vendors, collaborators, current customer and prospective customer names and addresses, information regarding credit extensions to customers, customer service purchasing histories and prices charged to customers, customer lists and other customer data, information regarding the skills and compensation of employees and contractors of Dog Haus, designs, drawings, specifications, source code, object code, documentation, diagrams, flowcharts, research, development, marketing techniques and materials, trademarks, trad.

This high standard of diligence reflects the significant value and proprietary nature of Dog Haus's Confidential Information. By requiring such a high level of care, Dog Haus aims to protect its trade secrets and maintain its competitive advantage. Prospective franchisees should understand the importance of this obligation and be prepared to implement appropriate measures to safeguard the Confidential Information.