What must a Zoomin Groomin franchisee do with any Confidential Information upon termination of the Franchise Agreement?
Zoomin_Groomin Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
directly or indirectly disclose, publish, disseminate or use our "Confidential Information" except as authorized in the Franchise Agreement. You may use our Confidential Information to perform your obligations under the Franchise Agreement, but in doing so you will only allow dissemination of our Confidential Information on a need-to-know basis and only to those individuals that have been informed of the proprietary and confidential nature of such Confidential Information. We may share performance data of your Franchised Business between us, our employees and affiliates, our franchisees and their employees. You agree to keep such performance data confidential.
"Confidential Information" means our information or data (oral, written, electronic or otherwise), including, without limitation, a trade secret, that is valuable and not generally known or readily available to third parties obtained by you from us during the term of the Franchise Agreement. The Confidential Information of ours includes all intellectual property associated with our Franchise System, all other materials relating to our Franchise System that are not a matter of public record, and all information generated during the performance of the Franchise Agreement.
"Customer Data" is considered Confidential Information and includes all information about Customers that may be collected in connection with their use of your services including, but not limited to, name, telephone number, address and email address.
Upon termination of your Franchise Agreement, you must return to us our Operations Manuals and any Confidential Information. You may never - during the initial term, any renewal term, or after the Franchise Agreement expires or is terminated - reveal any of our Confidential Information to any other person or entity or use it for the benefit of any other person or business.
Source: Item 14 — PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION (FDD pages 36–37)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Zoomin Groomin FDD, upon termination or expiration of the Franchise Agreement, a franchisee must return Confidential Information within ten days or certify that the Confidential Information has otherwise been deleted or destroyed. However, the franchisee may retain Confidential Information as needed solely for legal, tax, and insurance purposes, but the information retained will remain subject at all times to the confidentiality restrictions of this Agreement. Zoomin Groomin defines "Confidential Information" as their information or data (oral, written, electronic or otherwise), including, without limitation, a trade secret, that is valuable and not generally known or readily available to third parties obtained by you from us during the term of the Franchise Agreement. The Confidential Information of ours includes all intellectual property associated with our Franchise System, all other materials relating to our Franchise System that are not a matter of public record, and all information generated during the performance of the Franchise Agreement.
Zoomin Groomin considers "Customer Data" as Confidential Information, including all information about Customers that may be collected in connection with their use of your services including, but not limited to, name, telephone number, address and email address. The franchisee must also store Confidential Information in a secure location whether physically or electronically and notify Zoomin Groomin if the Confidential Information is lost or stolen, regardless of fault.
These stipulations are fairly standard in franchising, as franchisors need to protect their proprietary information and customer data. The franchisee's obligation to return or destroy confidential information, and to maintain its confidentiality even after the agreement ends, is a critical aspect of protecting the Zoomin Groomin system. The exception allowing retention for legal, tax, and insurance purposes is also typical, providing a necessary allowance for franchisees to manage their post-franchise obligations.