Choice of jurisdiction in Franchise Agreements

Many franchisors specify their home state as the governing law of the franchise agreement, often thus ignoring the choice of law jurisprudence on the issue.

In Broad Spectrum Training Pty Ltd and Ors v Bidding Buzz Limited [2010] FMCA 932 (3 December 2010), Bidding Buzz Ltd (“franchisor”), sought to have the proceedings commenced by Broad Spectrum Training (“franchisee”) alleging that the franchisor had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct, transferred from the Perth to the Brisbane registry of the Federal Magistrates Court. Read more of this post

Franchising Code amendments update

On Friday 4th June, the Hon Dr Craig Emerson MP announced changes to the Franchising Code of Conduct (“Code”) which will come into effect on 1 July 2010.

While the amendments do not appear monumental, they will nevertheless affect the disclosure requirements with respect to a number of aspects of the franchise offer as well as prescribe certain conduct throughout the term, such as dispute resolution and end-of-term, such as renewal notification.

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