Does the Participation Agreement grant Even Hotels any intellectual property rights to FreedomPay Technology?
Even_Hotels Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Hotel acknowledges that all right, title and interest in and to all patents, copyrights, trade secret, trademark and other intellectual property rights in the goods and services (other than thirdparty Goods and Third-Party services), together with all modifications, improvements, enhancements, updates, localizations and translations thereof (collectively, "FreedomPay Technology"), are, and at all times will remain, the sole and exclusive property of FreedomPay, the provider of the Secure Switching service.
Nothing contained in this Participation Agreement may directly or indirectly be construed to assign or grant to Hotel or any third party any license, right, title or interest in or to the FreedomPay Technology except as necessary to use the goods or services or as otherwise expressly provided in this Participation Agreement.
The license granted to Hotel to the software embedded in the Products and Secure Switching and granted to Hotel in its agreement with IHG is limited to facilitating the sale of Hotel's products and services and does not include any other rights of any type.
FreedomPay owns all Remaining Rights. "Remaining Rights" means, except for the limited license granted to Hotel, all other rights in the software, including but not limited to, improvements, modifications, alterations, additions and deletions to any trademark, logo, copyright or other notices, legends, symbols, labels, displays, sounds, other media or characteristics on or in the FreedomPay Technology on the Products.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPTS (FDD pages 99–438)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Even Hotels' 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the Participation Agreement does not grant Even Hotels any intellectual property rights to FreedomPay Technology. The agreement explicitly states that all rights, title, and interest in the FreedomPay Technology remain the sole and exclusive property of FreedomPay.
The agreement clarifies that Even Hotels is only granted a limited license to use the FreedomPay Technology as necessary to facilitate the sale of the hotel's products and services. This license does not extend to any other rights, including modifications, improvements, or alterations to the technology. FreedomPay retains all "Remaining Rights," which encompass any changes to trademarks, logos, copyrights, or other elements within the FreedomPay Technology.
This means that Even Hotels franchisees cannot claim ownership or make unauthorized changes to the FreedomPay Technology. Their use is strictly limited to the intended purpose of processing transactions and related services. Any attempt to modify or repurpose the technology beyond this scope would be a violation of the Participation Agreement and infringe upon FreedomPay's intellectual property rights.