Does the Fly Fitness franchise agreement grant the franchisee any ownership rights to the intellectual property?

According to Fly Fitness's 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees do not acquire any ownership rights to Fly Fitness's intellectual property. The agreement explicitly states that Fly Fitness or its licensor retains ownership of all rights, titles, and interests in the intellectual property, including trademarks, service marks, trade names, trade dress, logos, copyrights, and proprietary materials. Franchisees are only granted the right to use the intellectual property in accordance with the franchise agreement for operating their franchised business.

This means that a Fly Fitness franchisee's use of the brand's intellectual property is limited to running their franchise and any goodwill generated from that use benefits Fly Fitness. Franchisees cannot take any actions that would negatively impact Fly Fitness's rights to its intellectual property. They are also obligated to identify themselves as independent Fly Fitness franchisees in conjunction with any use of the intellectual property, such as on invoices and receipts.

Upon termination or expiration of the franchise agreement, the franchisee's right to use Fly Fitness's intellectual property immediately ceases. The franchisee must discontinue using the marks, logos, copyrighted material, and any other intellectual property associated with Fly Fitness. This is a standard practice in franchising, as the brand's intellectual property is crucial to maintaining uniformity and protecting the franchisor's brand identity.