Clothing Shopkeeper Sign Clothing Alliance Contract Matters Needing Attention Summary

　　 Franchisee Before signing the franchise agreement, we should thoroughly understand the contents of the contract so as to ensure its own rights and interests. In fact, the contract should be made after mutual agreement. In other words, the franchisee should not only open his eyes to see the contents clearly, but also have the right to ask for revision. Xiaobian summed up the following ten points for attention, for the franchisee as a reference for signing.

First, it should be required to sign the Service Badge registration certificate at headquarters. Because the so-called joining is that the headquarters will authorize the brand to the franchisee. In other words, the headquarters must first own the brand before it can be authorized to the franchisee. That is to say, the headquarters must first obtain the Service Badge registration certificate issued by the Central Bureau of standards. Before joining, the franchisee must confirm that the headquarters really owns the brand so that they can join hands safely.

Second. Royalty Payment method 。 Generally speaking, the headquarters will charge three kinds of fees to the franchisee, namely the franchise money, the royalty and the deposit. The so-called "joining in gold" refers to the overall shop planning and the cost of education and training for the franchisee before the opening of the store. Royalty refers to the trademark used by the franchisee to use the headquarters, and the expenses to be paid for the goodwill. This is a continuous charge. As long as the franchisee continues to use the trademark of the headquarters, it must pay regularly. The payment period may be paid once a year, quarterly or monthly. As for margin, it is the fee charged by headquarters to ensure that the franchisee really fulfills the contract and pays the payment on time.

Third, the price of headquarters supply. In the general franchise contract, the headquarters will ask the franchisee to purchase the goods to headquarters and not to purchase them privately. This is often the most controversial link between headquarters and franchisees. Because the franchisees often think that the supply price of headquarters is high, so they buy their own products themselves. However, based on the consistency of the quality of the chain system, the headquarters had to ask the franchisees to purchase the same headquarters, so the dispute came into being. The more reasonable way is that when the franchisee sign the contract, they should ask the headquarters to supply the price in advance not higher than the market price, or the percentage of the market is acceptable.

Fourth. Business circle Protection problem. Usually join the headquarters to ensure that the franchisee's operating interests, there will be a business circle protection, that is, within a certain business district no longer set up second branches. Therefore, the extent of the franchisee's protection of the business circle must be very clear. However, the common situation is that the headquarters is not far away from the business circle. When the second stores are opened, the business of the original franchisee is affected, causing protests. In fact, if the headquarters is located outside the business circle, the franchisee has no right to protest. However, it is worth mentioning that some chain systems have been difficult to open new franchised stores because of the increasing number of franchisees or the saturation of the franchised stores, so they have developed second brands by coincidence. It means using another new brand name, and the business content is exactly the same as the original brand, so that it can not restrict the business circle of the original brand. Therefore, in order to protect their rights and interests, the franchisee would better specify the second brands that the headquarters should not develop further.

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Fifth. Prohibition of competition. The so-called prohibition of business strife is the regulation that the headquarters must not engage in the same industry with the original franchisee in order to protect the operation of technology and intellectual property, and do not exits because of the opening up. The regulation is aimed at protecting intellectual property rights at headquarters, and it is understandable that the Fair Trade Commission also believes that it will not be illegal. However, how long should the duration of competition be reasonable? If it is too long, it will affect the future work rights of the franchisees. In view of this, there was a prohibition clause in a chain system for three years, and the franchised shop was informed of the Fair Trade Commission. The fair would consider that the prohibition clause was reasonable, but was it considered that the three year was too long? Later, the headquarters was also very sensible to change the three year to one year. Therefore, the franchisee must consider clearly when signing the contract, so as not to affect future livelihood.

Sixth, management rules and regulations. In general, there are fewer than ten articles in the franchise contract, and more than seven articles in eighty articles. However, there is usually such a rule that "all matters not covered by this contract are handled according to the headquarters management regulations." If the franchisee is in such a situation, it is better to require the headquarters to attach the management rules to the contract and become an appendix to the contract. Because the management regulations are formulated by the headquarters, the headquarters can incorporate all the unspecified items in the contract into their management rules, and modify them at any time.

Fifth. Prohibition of competition. The so-called prohibition of business strife is the regulation that the headquarters must not engage in the same industry with the original franchisee in order to protect the operation of technology and intellectual property, and do not exits because of the opening up. The regulation is aimed at protecting intellectual property rights at headquarters, and it is understandable that the Fair Trade Commission also believes that it will not be illegal. However, how long should the duration of competition be reasonable? If it is too long, it will affect the future work rights of the franchisees. In view of this, there was a prohibition clause in a chain system for three years, and the franchised shop was informed of the Fair Trade Commission. The fair would consider that the prohibition clause was reasonable, but was it considered that the three year was too long? Later, the headquarters was also very sensible to change the three year to one year. Therefore, the franchisee must consider clearly when signing the contract, so as not to affect future livelihood.

Sixth, management rules and regulations. In general, there are fewer than ten articles in the franchise contract, and more than seven articles in eighty articles. However, there is usually such a rule that "all matters not covered by this contract are handled according to the headquarters management regulations." If the franchisee is in such a situation, it is better to require the headquarters to attach the management rules to the contract and become an appendix to the contract. Because the management regulations are formulated by the headquarters, the headquarters can incorporate all the unspecified items in the contract into their management rules, and modify them at any time.

Eighth, dealing with disputes. The general franchise contract will be clearly listed under the jurisdiction of the court, and usually in the jurisdiction of the court in the district where the headquarters is located. It is convenient for headquarters staff to visit nearby courts in case of need. It is worth mentioning that a certain affiliate headquarters stipulated in the contract that the franchisee had to go through mediation committee at headquarters before he wanted to sue the court. In this case, we should first understand that the members of the conciliation committee are those people. If they are all the staff of the headquarters, then the conciliation results will certainly be partial to headquarters, but not to the franchisees. Because of the contract, the franchisee can not ignore the conciliation board and directly sue the court. Therefore, the author suggests that franchisees should be deleted when they encounter similar clauses.

Ninth. Termination of contract. When the contract terminates, the most important thing for the franchisee is to get the deposit back. At this point, the headquarters will inspect whether the franchisee has violated the contract or accumulated arrears. At the same time, the headquarters may ask the franchisee to remove the signboard by itself. If all goes smoothly and there is no arrears, the headquarters will refund the deposit. But if there is a dispute, whether or not to dismantle the signs will become the focus of the two sides' wrestling. Some headquarters even hire their own employees to dismantle signboards. In this case, the franchisee depends on the original contribution of the signboard. If the franchisee makes the contribution, the ownership of the sign should be owned by the franchisee. Although the headquarters owns the trademark ownership, it can not be demolished without authorization. If it really wants to be demolished, it must be enforced through the court. If the headquarters demolish itself, it will commit the crime of damage.

Tenth, this is the last point to note, that is, after signing the contract, both parties must hold one. We must remember that we keep one copy before we can clearly understand the contents of the contract and ensure our own rights and interests. Of course, the most important thing is to read the contract clearly and sign it again and understand the content one by one. If there is any ambiguity or uncertainty, it should be clear to the headquarters staff. Because only by signing the contract carefully before signing can we reduce the disputes in the future.