What must a franchisee do with Fat Shack proprietary marks and materials upon termination?
Fat_Shack Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Franchisee is obligated upon termination or expiration of this Agreement to immediately do all of the following:
- a.
Pay all Royalties, Marketing and Promotion Fees, Noncompliance Service Charges, and other amounts then owed FSI or any of its affiliates pursuant to this Agreement, or otherwise.
- b.
Cease to identify itself as a FAT SHACK franchisee or use any Marks, trade secrets, signs, symbols, devices, trade names, or other materials of FSI.
- c.
Cease to identify the Restaurant Location as being, or having been, associated with FSI, and immediately cease operating any business at the Restaurant Location.
- d.
Cease using any proprietary mark of FSI or any mark in any way associated with the Marks and Licensed Methods and deliver to FSI all signs, sign-faces, advertising materials, forms and other materials bearing any of the Marks or otherwise identified with FSI.
- e.
Deliver to FSI the Operations Manual and all other information, documents and copies thereof which are proprietary to FSI.
- f.
Promptly take such action as may be required to cancel all fictitious or assumed names or equivalent registrations relating to its use of any Marks which are under the exclusive control of FSI or, at the option of FSI, assign the same to FSI.
- Notify the telephone company and all telephone directory publishers, domain name registration companies, and social media website operators, of the termination or expiration of Franchisee's right to use any telephone number, domain name, social media websites or accounts, and any regular, classified or other telephone directory listings associated with any Mark and complete all forms, and provide other necessary notification to authorize the transfer thereof to FSI or its designee.
Franchisee acknowledges that, as between Franchisee and FSI, FSI has the sole rights to and interest in all telephone, telecopy or facsimile machine numbers and directory listings, all domain names, and social media websites or accounts associated with any Mark.
Source: Item 23 — Receipts (FDD pages 53–223)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Fat Shack's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, upon termination or expiration of the franchise agreement, a franchisee has several obligations regarding Fat Shack's proprietary marks and materials. The franchisee must immediately cease identifying themselves as a Fat Shack franchisee and discontinue the use of any of Fat Shack's marks, trade secrets, signs, symbols, devices, trade names, or other materials. They must also stop identifying the restaurant location as being associated with Fat Shack and immediately cease operating any business at that location.
Furthermore, the franchisee is required to stop using any proprietary mark of Fat Shack or any mark associated with its licensed methods. All signs, advertising materials, forms, and other materials bearing any of Fat Shack's marks or identified with Fat Shack must be delivered to Fat Shack. The Operations Manual and all other proprietary information, documents, and copies must also be handed over to Fat Shack.
The franchisee must also take action to cancel all fictitious or assumed names or equivalent registrations related to the use of any marks under Fat Shack's exclusive control or, at Fat Shack's option, assign them to Fat Shack. Additionally, the franchisee is responsible for notifying the telephone company, telephone directory publishers, domain name registration companies, and social media website operators about the termination of their right to use any telephone number, domain name, social media websites or accounts associated with any Fat Shack mark. They must complete all necessary forms and provide notifications to authorize the transfer of these assets to Fat Shack or its designee. Fat Shack retains sole rights to all telephone numbers, domain names, and social media accounts associated with its marks.