How are Itan franchisees required to treat their employees and the franchisor's staff?
Itan Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
- **2.
BACKGROUND**.
You are an employee or independent contractor of Franchisee.
As a result of this association, you may gain knowledge of our System and Know-how.
You understand that protecting the Intellectual Property is vital to our success and that of our franchisees and that you could seriously jeopardize our franchise system if you were to misuse our Intellectual Property.
To avoid such damage, you agree to comply with the terms of this Agreement.
- **3.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION**.
You agree to: (a) refrain from using the Intellectual Property or Confidential Information in any business or for any purpose other than the operation of Franchisee's Salon; (b) maintain the confidentiality of Confidential Information at all times; (c) refrain from making unauthorized copies of documents containing Confidential Information; (d) take all steps we reasonably require to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of Confidential Information; and (e) immediately stop using the Intellectual Property and Confidential Information at such time that you are no longer an employee or independent contractor of Franchisee.
You agree to assign to us or our designee, without charge, all rights to any Improvement developed by you, including the right to grant sublicenses.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPT (FDD pages 44–190)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
Based on the 2025 iTan Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees have specific obligations regarding the handling of confidential information by their employees or independent contractors. As an iTan franchisee, you must ensure that your employees or independent contractors acknowledge that they may gain knowledge of iTan's System and Know-how, and that protecting iTan's intellectual property is vital to the success of both the franchisor and the franchisees.
The agreement between the employee/contractor and iTan requires that they agree to several key points. These include refraining from using iTan's intellectual property or confidential information for any purpose other than the operation of the franchisee's salon, maintaining the confidentiality of confidential information at all times, refraining from making unauthorized copies of documents containing confidential information, taking all steps reasonably required by iTan to prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of confidential information, and immediately stopping using the intellectual property and confidential information once they are no longer associated with the franchisee.
Furthermore, any improvements developed by an employee or independent contractor related to the goods, services, operations, systems, marketing, or intellectual property of the iTan salon must be assigned to iTan or its designee without charge, including the right to grant sublicenses. This ensures that iTan retains control over any advancements or modifications made within the franchise system, protecting its brand and operational standards. The FDD excerpt does not specify how franchisees are to generally treat employees or iTan staff, only detailing the handling of intellectual property and confidential information.