First, should be required to join the headquarters to show the service mark registration certificate. Because the so-called franchise, is the headquarters of the brand authorized to the franchise to use, in other words, the headquarters must first have the brand, in order to authorize the franchise. That is to say, the headquarters must first obtain the Central Bureau of Standards, issued by the service mark registration certificate before. A while ago, that is, a Chinese restaurant chain system of disputes, the old and new two systems into the Fair Trade Commission, and then the losing party was forced to change the brand name, and even make has joined the system of franchises are also forced to change the name, it is really how innocent ah! Therefore, before joining the franchisee, be sure to confirm that the headquarters does have this brand, in order to rest assured to join.
Second, the royalty payment method. Generally speaking, the headquarters will charge the franchisee three kinds of fees, respectively, is the franchise fee, rights and deposit. The so-called franchise gold, refers to the headquarters in the store before helping the franchisee to do the overall store planning, and education and training fees charged. The rights of the franchise refers to the use of the headquarters of the trademark, as well as the enjoyment of goodwill required to pay the fee, which is a continuing charge, as long as the franchisee continues to use the headquarters of the trademark, it must be paid on a regular basis. The payment period may be once a year, quarterly or monthly. As for the security deposit, is the headquarters to ensure that the franchisee will indeed fulfill the contract, and punctual payment of goods and other fees charged. Among them, due to the royalties are ongoing charges, some franchise headquarters will be in the signing of the contract, the franchisee is required to open a contract period of the full amount of the royalties of the check, such as the contract period of five years, the royalties to take the yearly payment method, some headquarters will require the franchisee will be five years of the royalties, one time to open a full five checks to headquarters. Later there has been such a case, a system of franchisees opened two years, because of poor business and closed down, but as early as the signing of the contract, has opened a full five-year royalties check to the headquarters. According to reason, the latter three years since the store has been closed no longer use the headquarters of the trademark, goodwill, no longer need to pay royalties, however, the headquarters will still have collected the checks rolled into the bank to withdraw funds, the franchisee, not only lost two years of business, but also have to pay the amount of these checks that have been issued! Therefore, if the franchisee meets the headquarters requirements of the contract period, all the rights of all the cheques face value, must remember to add a note on the contract, when the franchisee store no longer open store, the headquarters must return the unexpired rights of the money, in order to protect their own rights and interests.
Third, the price of the headquarters supply. General franchise contract, the headquarters will require the franchisee must be imported to the headquarters, shall not be privately imported. This point is often the headquarters of the most contentious link with the franchise. Because the franchise often think that the headquarters of the supply price is high, so they have their own procurement outside. But the headquarters based on the consistency of the quality of the chain system, had to ask the franchise must be unified to the headquarters procurement, so the dispute arose. A more reasonable way is to join the franchisee in the signing of the contract, that is, should be required in advance the headquarters of the supply price shall not be higher than the market price, or higher than the market price of how much is acceptable, so as to avoid the two sides in order to avoid the price of the problem of endless disputes.
Fourth, the business circle protection problem. Usually join the headquarters to ensure that the franchise's operational interests, there will be a business circle protection, that is, within a business circle will no longer open a second branch. Therefore, the franchisee to protect the scope of the business circle how big, must be very clear. However, a common situation, is the headquarters in the protection of the business circle outside the distance, and then opened a second store, affecting the original franchise business and triggered protests. In fact, if the headquarters is opened in the protection of the business circle outside the place, the franchise does not have the right to protest. However, it is worth mentioning that some chain systems because of the increase in franchises or has reached saturation, in the protection of the business circle, it has been very difficult to open new franchises, so they take the trick to develop a second brand. Meaning that the use of another new brand name, and business content and the original brand is exactly the same, so you can not be limited by the original brand of the business circle protection restrictions. For example, there has been a housing agency chain system is so, and finally, of course, will attract the franchisee's group resistance. Therefore, the franchisee in order to protect their own rights and interests, in the contract, it is best to state that the headquarters shall not develop the business content is identical to the second brand.
Fifth, the non-compete clause. The so-called non-compete, is the headquarters for the protection of business technology and intellectual property, not open to join the outflow, the franchisee in the contract period, or the end of a certain period of time, may not be engaged in the same industry with the original franchise provisions. This specification aims to protect the intellectual property rights of the headquarters, and there is nothing wrong with it, and the Fair Trade Commission also considered that this move is not illegal. But how long should the non-compete period be reasonable? If it is too long, it may affect the franchisee's rights and interests in the future. In this regard, the non-competition clause of a chain system was stipulated to be three years, which was sued by the franchisee to the Fair Trade Commission. The Fair Trade Commission considered that the non-competition clause was reasonable, but whether three years was too long? Subsequently, the headquarters of the chain had the good sense to change the three years to one year. So the franchisee must consider clearly when signing the contract, so as not to affect the future livelihood.
Sixth, the management regulations. General franchise contract content is less than a dozen twenty, more than seventy, eighty hundreds of articles, but usually there will be such a provision, "the contract is not complete, according to the headquarters of the management of the regulations to deal with. If the franchisee encountered such a situation, it is best to ask the headquarters will be attached to the management rules and regulations attached to the back of the contract, become an annex to the contract. Because the management regulations are made by the headquarters, the headquarters can not be contained in the contract, all the matters into its management regulations, at any time to modify, do whatever you want, then the franchisee will have to be at the mercy of the headquarters.
Seventh, the penalty for breach of contract. Because the franchise contract is drawn up by the headquarters, so the headquarters will be more favorable, in violation of the contract penalties, usually only listed for the franchisee's part of the headquarters to violate the part of the contract is not mentioned. Franchisees should be able to put forward relative requirements, clearly defined provisions of the headquarters of the penalty for breach of contract, in particular, the provisions of the headquarters of the services to be provided by the project and logistical support, should require the headquarters to really achieve.
Eighth, on the handling of disputes. The general franchise contract will be clearly listed on the jurisdiction of the court, and usually to the headquarters of the district court for the jurisdiction of the court. In case there is a need in the future, the headquarters staff to come to the nearby court is more convenient. It is worth mentioning that there has been a franchise headquarters in the contract, the franchisee wants to file a lawsuit to the court before the need to go through the headquarters of the mediation committee mediation. In this case, should first understand the composition of the mediation committee for those people? If all the headquarters of the personnel, then the results of mediation, of course, will be biased in favor of the headquarters, and is not conducive to the franchisee. Due to the contract, the franchisee can not ignore the mediation committee, and directly to the court. Therefore, the author suggests that the franchisee should ask for the deletion of similar clauses when encountered.
Ninth, the termination of the contract. When the contract is terminated, the franchisee, the most important thing is to get back the deposit. At this time, the headquarters will review the franchisee whether there is a violation of the contract or payment arrears, at the same time, the headquarters may require the franchisee to remove the signboard, if all goes well and no payment arrears, the headquarters that is the return of the deposit. But if there is a dispute, whether to remove the signboard often becomes the focus of the two sides. Some headquarters will even hire their own workers to remove the sign, the franchisee encountered this situation, depending on who originally funded the sign. If funded by the franchisee, then the signboard "object" ownership should be owned by the franchisee, although the headquarters has the trademark ownership, but can not be removed without authorization. If you really want to remove it, you have to go through the court to enforce it, and if the headquarters remove it by itself, it will violate the crime of vandalism.
Tenth, this is the last point should pay attention to, that is, after the signing of the contract, both sides must be a copy of each. Once a supermarket chain system and the franchisee after the signing of the contract, the headquarters to stay two contracts, and did not leave a copy to the franchisee, and later was a lawsuit to the Fair Trade Commission to correct. So the franchisee must remember to keep a copy of their own, in order to clearly understand the content of the contract, to ensure their own rights and interests.
Of course, the most important thing is to read the contract clearly before signing it, and to understand the contents one by one, if there is any uncertainty or ambiguity, you should ask the headquarters staff for clarification. Because only in the signing of the contract, carefully understand the contract, in order to reduce future disputes arise.