Does a Southern Steer franchisee receive additional compensation for assigning proprietary rights of improvements to the franchisor?
Southern_Steer Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Franchisee will promptly disclose to Franchisor any changes, improvements, enhancements, advertisements or other marketing materials, inventions, discoveries, creations, patents, copyrights, trademarks, and confidential information relating to Franchisee's Southern Steer Business which Franchisee or any of Franchisee's owners, officers, employees, agents, affiliates, Designated Managers, or independent contractors has made or may make solely, jointly, or commonly with others ("Improvements").
Franchisee will promptly create a written record of the same.
Any changes, improvements, or enhancements made to the Southern Steer Business or the Marks, System, Confidential Information, Trade Secrets, Brand Manual, Website and other proprietary information provided to Franchisee by Franchisor made by Franchisee or any of Franchisee's owners, officers, employees, affiliates, agents, Designated Managers or independent contractors or as the result of suggestions or other input from Franchisee or any of Franchisee's owners, officers, employees, affiliates, agents, Designated Managers or independent contractors including without limitation, all copyrightable works, will become part of the Marks, System, Confidential Information, Trade Secrets, Brand Manual, Website and Franchisor's proprietary information owned by Franchisor without any rights of ownership by Franchisee.
Franchisee hereby assigns all proprietary rights described in this Section 15.7 to Franchisor without additional consideration.
Source: Item 22 — ITEM. 22 CONTRACTS (FDD pages 61–168)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Southern Steer Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are required to assign all proprietary rights related to any improvements made to the Southern Steer business to the franchisor without receiving any additional compensation. This includes any changes, enhancements, advertisements, marketing materials, inventions, discoveries, creations, patents, copyrights, trademarks, and confidential information.
This means that if a franchisee develops a new and successful marketing strategy, product, or operational improvement, the rights to that improvement automatically become the property of Southern Steer. The franchisee will not be paid or otherwise compensated for the transfer of these rights. Southern Steer has the right to use these improvements across the entire franchise system.
This clause ensures that Southern Steer maintains control over its brand and system standards, but it also means that franchisees may not directly benefit financially from their innovations beyond their own store's performance. Prospective franchisees should consider this when evaluating the potential return on investment and the incentives for innovation within the Southern Steer franchise system.