This Article presents YUM! Brands, Inc. disclosure information and presents valuable insight into the risks of starting a business that shares intellectual property with another party. YUM! is the parent of entities such as KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell with locations around the world. YUM! is...

Commentary, case law, and business practices all indicate the need for consumers to recognize a franchisee's independence and to understand the basic legal implications thereof. These consumers should know with whom they are dealing and what that means for the prospective liability of...

Franchises serve as a potential avenue through which direct investment can be made into new markets. However, the current state of franchise law and related concepts such as the franchisor's or franchisee's goodwill are still underdeveloped. This Article reviews the franchise laws in key...

Territoriality, including the fear of encroachment, evidently is one of humanity's primal, ubiquitous concerns. No matter the context (personal or commercial), no matter the group (small or large, simple or sophisticated), territorial concepts present themselves. Examples abound. For instance,...

Franchising is, among other things, a system of marketing and distribution whereby an independent, often small, business person (the franchisee) is granted the right to market the goods and services of another (the franchisor) in accordance with established standards and practices. In its ideal...

The cycle of poor credit history is a powerful one. An individual or business with a low credit rating, perhaps from the late payment of past bills, will have difficulty gaining access to traditional forms of lending. According to some sources, many banks within the United States may even...

Imagine living the American dream of owning a small business, such as a franchise. Now imagine what it takes to keep that dream alive — the everyday operations of this fictional franchise location. There are inventory, customers, employees, products, and of course the franchisor to consider....

This Article considers franchise encroachment and the attitudes of potential business owners toward such an intrusion on their markets. Encroachment, long the most debated subject in franchise law, entails the franchisor's placement, near one of its existing franchisees, of a new franchised or...

Franchisees ordinarily are considered to be independent contractors, not employees. While the franchisee works in a particular industry, such as hotels or fast-food, the franchisor usually is viewed as a licensor engaged in the business of franchising, not -- as a legal matter -- working in its...