Is a Zoomin Groomin franchisee required to inform individuals of the proprietary nature of Confidential Information?
Zoomin_Groomin Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
We claim proprietary rights in our Operations Manual and business methods. You must use these items per the terms of your Franchise Agreement. We consider all of these items confidential and proprietary.
You will not 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.
Source: Item 14 — PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION (FDD pages 36–37)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Zoomin Groomin Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees have an obligation to protect the franchisor's confidential information. Zoomin Groomin considers its Operations Manual and business methods as confidential and proprietary.
Specifically, a Zoomin Groomin franchisee cannot directly or indirectly disclose, publish, disseminate, or use Zoomin Groomin's Confidential Information, except as authorized in the Franchise Agreement. If a franchisee needs to share confidential information to fulfill their obligations under the Franchise Agreement, they can only disseminate the information on a need-to-know basis.
Furthermore, the franchisee must inform those individuals receiving the confidential information about its proprietary and confidential nature. Zoomin Groomin may also share performance data of a franchisee's business with its employees, affiliates, other franchisees, and their employees, and the franchisee agrees to keep such performance data confidential.