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...

Linking academic enterprises to large-scale, money-making sports operations can be, to put it mildly, problematic. However, as I sit here waiting to attend a university graduation ceremony at our 90,000-seat football stadium, I can look at the sunny side. Sports team loyalties can be a great...

The parol evidence rule, though a venerable concept in contract law, remains a source of controversy. This key tenet of contract interpretation “bars extrinsic terms agreed upon prior to or at the same time as, a total integration regardless of whether the term is written or oral.” In other...

The franchisee-franchisor relationship has often been referred to as the little guy against the big guy. Franchising may encompass the seemingly innocuous defining characteristics of distribution, know-how, brand identification, profits, risk, independence, control, and standards, but there is...

Franchising is a system of marketing and distribution where an independent businessperson, the franchisee, is granted the right to market the goods and services of another, the franchisor. As a vehicle for entrepreneurship and investment, franchising allows for efficient expansion of good...

Since its inception, franchising has proven to be a very popular business model. It is easy to see why. Franchising provides a method for businesses to expand quickly and inexpensively into various markets. A business accomplishes this task by licensing its name and trademark as well as selling...

For many years, the rise in number of international units operated by U.S. franchisors has outpaced domestic growth. As the trend toward globalization accelerates, franchise owners must determine the most effective methods to protect their intellectual property rights wherever they do business....