Is Fly To Fit obligated to protect any of its copyrights?
Fly_To_Fit Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
est to, or is convicted of a felony; or
- (xiv) Franchisee or any Owner is accused by any governmental authority or third party of any act, or if Franchisee or any Owner commits any act or series of acts, that in Fly To Fit Franchise's opinion is reasonably likely to materially and unfavorably affect the Fly To Fit brand.
- 14.3 Effect of Termination. Upon termination or expiration of this Agreement, all obligations that by their terms or by reasonable implication survive termination, including those pertaining to non-competition, confidentiality, indemnity, and dispute resolution, will remain in effect, and Franchisee must immediately:
- (i) pay all amounts owed to Fly To Fit Franchise based on the operation of the Business through the effective date of termination or expiration;
- (ii) return to Fly To Fit Franchise all copies of the Manual, Confidential Information and any and all other materials provided by Fly To Fit Franchise to Franchisee or created by a third party for Franchisee relating to the operation of the Business, and all items containing any Marks, copyrights, and other proprietary items; and delete all Confidential Information and proprietary materials from electronic devices;
- (iii) notify the telephone, internet, email, electronic network, directory, and listing entities of the termination or expiration of Franchisee's right to use any numbers, addresses, domain names, locators, directories and listings associated with any of the Marks, and authorize their transfer to Fly To Fit Franchise or any new franchisee as may be directed by Fly To Fit Franchise, and Franchisee hereby irrevocably
- appoints Fly To Fit Franchise, with full power of substitution, as its true and lawful attorney-in-fact, which appointment is coupled with an interest;
Source: Item 14 — PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION (FDD pages 33–34)
What This Means (2024 FDD)
Based on the 2024 Fly To Fit Franchise Disclosure Document, upon termination or expiration of the Franchise Agreement, the franchisee is required to return all materials provided by Fly To Fit that contain any Marks, copyrights, and other proprietary items. The franchisee must also delete all Confidential Information and proprietary materials from electronic devices. This clause indicates Fly To Fit's intention to maintain control and protection over its copyrighted materials and proprietary information.
Additionally, the agreement states that all customer data and other non-public data generated by the Business is Confidential Information and is exclusively owned by Fly To Fit. Fly To Fit licenses such data back to the franchisee without charge solely for the franchisee's use in connection with the Business for the term of the agreement. This underscores Fly To Fit's ownership and control over critical business data, which would likely be protected by copyright or trade secret laws.
Further, the Franchise Agreement specifies that franchisees must disclose to Fly To Fit all ideas, plans, improvements, concepts, methods, and techniques relating to the Business, termed "Innovations," conceived or developed by the franchisee. Fly To Fit will automatically own all Innovations and has the right to use and incorporate any Innovations into the System without any compensation to the franchisee. The franchisee is required to execute any documents reasonably requested by Fly To Fit to document Fly To Fit's ownership of Innovations. This clause suggests that Fly To Fit actively seeks to protect and integrate valuable intellectual property, including potential copyrights, developed within its franchise network into its system.