What rules must a Potbelly Sandwich Works franchisee follow when using the trademarks?
Potbelly_Sandwich_Works Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
nt limits our right to use or sublicense the Marks.
You must follow our rules when you use the Marks, including giving proper notices of trademark registration and obtaining fictitious or assumed name registrations the law requires. You may not use any Mark in your corporate or legal business name; with modifying words, terms, designs, or symbols (except for those we license to you); in offering or selling any unauthorized services or products; or as part of any domain name, homepage, electronic address, or otherwise in connection with Electronic Media. ("Electronic Media" means the Internet, the World Wide Web, or any other similar proprietary or common carrier electronic delivery system, and materials (such as CD ROMs and USB data storage devices) facilitating the electronic communication of information.) If we discover your unauthorized use of the Marks, we may require you to destroy all offending items (with no reimbursement from us). To the extent you use any Mark in employment-related materials, you must include a clear disclaimer that you (and only you) are the employer of employees at the Shop and that we, as the franchisor of Potbelly Shops, are not their employer and do not engage in any employer-type activities for which only franchisees are responsible, such as employee selection, promotion, termination, hours worked, rates of pay, other benefits, work assigned, discipline, adjustment of grievances and complaints, and working conditions. You must obtain an acknowledgment (in the form we specify or approve) from all Shop employees that we are not their employer.
There are no currently effective material determinations of the USPTO, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the trademark administrator of any state, or any court, and no pending
infringement, opposition, or cancellation proceedings or material litigation, involving the Marks. We are aware that the "Potbelly" name might be used to some degree by similar or competitive businesses in different parts of the country. Because we do not have detailed information about all these uses, we cannot confirm if there are either superior prior rights or infringing uses that could materially affect your use of the "Potbelly" Mark in any state. We plan to investigate these uses if and when we decide to enter a market where we believe the name already might be used. We will take the action we deem best under the circumstances. If there are superior prior rights to the "Potbelly" name in a particular market, we may decide not to grant a Potbelly Shop franchise in that market. We do not actually know of either superior prior rights or infringing uses that could materially affect your use of the other principal Marks in any state.
You must notify us immediately of any apparent infringement or challenge to your use of any Mark or of any person's claim of any rights in any Mark or confusingly similar trademark. You may not communicate with any person other than us, PSW, LLC, and our attorneys, and your attorneys, regarding any infringement, challenge, or claim.
Source: Item 13 — TRADEMARKS (FDD pages 51–54)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Potbelly Sandwich Works's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees must adhere to specific rules when using the company's trademarks. These rules include providing proper notices of trademark registration and obtaining any fictitious or assumed name registrations required by law. Franchisees are prohibited from using any Potbelly Sandwich Works trademark in their corporate or legal business name, or with any modifications unless explicitly licensed. They also cannot use the trademarks in offering or selling unauthorized services or products, or as part of any domain name, homepage, electronic address, or in connection with any electronic media.
If Potbelly Sandwich Works discovers unauthorized use of its trademarks, the franchisee may be required to destroy all items that violate the trademark rules without any reimbursement from the company. When using any trademark in employment-related materials, franchisees must include a clear disclaimer stating that they are the employer of the Shop's employees and that Potbelly Sandwich Works, as the franchisor, is not responsible for employer-type activities such as employee selection, promotion, termination, pay, and working conditions. Franchisees must also obtain acknowledgment from all Shop employees that Potbelly Sandwich Works is not their employer.
Furthermore, franchisees must immediately notify Potbelly Sandwich Works of any apparent infringement or challenge to the use of any trademark or any claim of rights in a confusingly similar trademark. Franchisees are not allowed to communicate with anyone other than Potbelly Sandwich Works, its affiliate PSW, LLC, and their respective attorneys regarding any infringement, challenge, or claim. Potbelly Sandwich Works and PSW, LLC, have the exclusive right to control any litigation or proceedings concerning any trademark, and franchisees are required to assist in protecting and maintaining the interests of Potbelly Sandwich Works and PSW, LLC, in any such legal matters. If Potbelly Sandwich Works decides to modify, discontinue, or replace any trademark, franchisees must comply with these directions within a reasonable time after receiving notice, although Potbelly Sandwich Works is not responsible for reimbursing direct expenses for changing signs or lost revenue due to the modified or discontinued mark.