Entitlement to goodwill compensation for franchisee established – mr. AW Dolphijn – dated December 30, 2021
On December 22, 2021, the District Court of Rotterdam ruled for the first time, as far as is known, that a franchisee is entitled to a goodwill compensation, as referred to in the Franchise Act. The ruling has not (yet) been published.
The Franchise Act stipulates that under certain circumstances a franchisee may be entitled to compensation for goodwill. See Article 7:920 paragraph 1 of the Dutch Civil Code. Although the Franchise Act stipulates that the franchise agreement must contain a goodwill arrangement no later than 1 January 2023, the court ruled that this already applies in the relevant case.
The franchise agreement regarding a service formula had ended after the agreed term had expired. The customer base belonged to the franchisee. However, just before the end of the franchise agreement, the franchisor had informed the franchisee’s customers that the services provided by the franchisor would be continued, that the franchisee’s staff would be taken over and that the entire service would therefore remain unchanged. The former franchisee was not compensated at all by the franchisor. The court deems this contrary to law. An expert will have to determine the size of the goodwill value, for which the franchisor must advance the costs of the expert’s report.
Ludwig & Van Dam lawyers, franchise legal advice.
Do you want to respond? Then email to dolphijn@ludwigvandam.nl
Other messages
On the edge of a franchisee’s exclusive territory
The Court of Appeal of Arnhem-Leeuwarden ruled on 15 May 2018, ECLI:NL:GHARL:2018:4395, on the question whether a franchisor has a branch just over the edge of the exclusively granted protection area.
Can a franchisee cohabit with a competing entrepreneur?
Can a franchisee violate a non-compete clause by cohabiting with someone who runs a competing business? On January 12, 2018, the District Court of Central Netherlands ruled
Not an exclusive catchment area, but still exclusivity for the franchisee
The judgment of the District Court of Noord-Holland dated 18 April 2018, ECLI:NL:RBNHO:2018:3268, ruled on the exclusivity area of a franchisee.
Supermarket letter – 23
AH may not reduce wages when taking over personnel from AH franchisees;
Termination or dissolution of the franchise agreement by the franchisee
In principle, franchise agreements can be terminated prematurely, for example by cancellation or dissolution. On 21 March 2018, the District Court of Overijssel ruled on ECLI:NL:RBOVE:2018:1335 on
Article in Entrance: “Sending mailings”
“Can I make a file of guests' email addresses because I occasionally want to inform them online about events, promotions and new dishes?”