Legal Aspects of Franchising

Our franchise solicitor team has significant experience with all legal aspects of franchising, including franchise agreement law and franchise protection laws. As a result, we understand and can pre-empt many of the problems that can arise for franchisors, and we’re able to provide expert franchise legal advice.

Legal Aspects of Franchising

The Newtons’ franchise solicitor team are well-versed in all legal aspects of franchising. We’re driven to fully understand you as a businessperson, your franchise and your industry in order to provide tailored franchise legal advice.

The legal aspects of franchising we specialise in include:

• franchise agreement law
• advising franchisee or franchisor with franchise documents
• intellectual property
• commercial property
• employment and franchise renewals
• sales and disposals
• disputes between franchisee and franchisor

Franchise Agreement Law

A franchise agreement is a legally binding document that establishes the terms of the relationship between the franchisor and franchisee. This is the most important document for franchisers because it sets out both parties’ obligations and legal rights as per franchise contract law. Examples include territorial rights, ongoing fees and marketing obligations.

Franchisees, on the whole, are entitled to retain the earnings made and own the business. The franchisor, however, is the owner of the brand and other intellectural property, such as operational methods. Additionally, the franchisor will receive a one-time payment by the franchisee, alongside continuing fees including royalties and marketing fees which are normally a percentage of turnover with a minimum monthly amount.

Franchise agreement law is complex, and franchise agreements typically cover many different legal aspects of franchising. In turn, seeking the support of an experienced franchise contract law solicitor is highly advised. At Newtons, our franchise solicitor team can assist you with negotiating, drafting and executing a franchise contract that protects your interests. We will outline your rights, obligations and expectations and ensure this has been appropriately documented in the agreement. In addition, we can provide franchise legal advice to assist you with franchise agreement dispute resolution effectively.

If you’re interested in seeking legal advice for other corporate agreements, Newtons solicitors are well-versed in the legalities of a multitude of agreement types.

Franchise Protection Laws

For a franchisor to protect your business during and after a franchise agreement, they must pay attention to franchise protection laws. Involving another party in your business, such as a franchisee, always poses a risk. Therefore, franchisors should take the appropriate steps to safeguard their business legally.

The most critical element of franchise protection law is intellection property. Therefore, as a franchisor, you need to carefully record the creation of your intellectual property and, where appropriate, register its exsistence in order to protect against others benefitting unlawfully from what belongs to you. As a result, when a franchise agreement terminates, you can legally challenge a franchisee who tries to continue using your intellectual property without consent.

The franchise solicitor team at Newtons are highly experienced in franchise protection law. We’ll help you understand your rights, pre-empt any threats and rigorously protect your business. Alternatively if you are coming out of a franchise we can advise you on the steps that you can take to reduce the risk of a claim for breach of the franchise agreement and intellectual property rights.