If an idea I create is adopted by Noodles & Company as part of their system, will it be considered Noodles & Company's property?
Noodles_Company Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
All ideas, concepts, methods or techniques useful to Noodles & Company restaurants, whether or not constituting protectable intellectual property, and whether created by you or on your behalf, must be promptly disclosed to us and, if adopted as part of the System, will be considered our property and works made-for-hire for us. You must sign whatever documents we request to evidence our ownership or to assist us in securing intellectual property rights in the ideas, concepts, methods or techniques.
Source: Item 14 — PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION (FDD pages 58–60)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Noodles & Company's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, any ideas, concepts, methods, or techniques that a franchisee creates which are useful to Noodles & Company, whether or not they are considered intellectual property, must be disclosed to Noodles & Company. If Noodles & Company adopts these ideas as part of their system, they will be considered Noodles & Company's property and regarded as works made for hire.
This means that if a franchisee develops a new operational method, recipe, or marketing strategy that Noodles & Company finds valuable and incorporates into its franchise system, the rights to that innovation will belong to Noodles & Company. The franchisee will be required to sign documents to confirm Noodles & Company's ownership and assist them in securing intellectual property rights for the idea.
This clause is fairly standard in franchising, as it allows the franchisor to maintain uniformity and control over the brand. However, it's crucial for franchisees to understand that any potentially valuable ideas they develop for their Noodles & Company restaurant could become the property of the franchisor. Franchisees should carefully consider this when deciding whether to invest time and resources into developing new concepts for the business.