Franchising is a business development strategy, a form of commerce that connects a franchisor, owner of a trademark and holder of know-how, and an independent trader who is called franchisee.
For the owner, franchising is a way to expand the business, and for the franchisee it is an opportunity to open and operate under the protection of a trademark that is already known and present in the public consciousness. Also, the franchisee can benefit from copyright, trade secrets or other secret procedures held by the trademark owner, and also from staff training and monitoring of business by the franchisor.
However, this system of contractual relationships involves certain costs, in addition to franchise granting fee and annual fees, the franchisee must always keep a certain quality standard.
Franchising contracts can be registered with the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI), by filing of an application by one of the contracting parties, for which a fee is paid later.
Thus, from 1994 to the present, only 41 franchising contracts were registered with the AGEPI, 7 of which were canceled, and the term of 17 contracts expired.
The small number of franchising contracts is due to the fact that this type of contractual relationships in Moldova are developing very actively through other forms such as dealer agreements and through official representations of foreign companies.
Data on franchising contracts registered with the AGEPI shall be published in the Official Bulletin of Intellectual Property (BOPI), in the the chapter “Changes in the Legal Status of Applications and Titles of Protection of Industrial Property Objects.
The electronic version of BOPI can be found here: http://agepi.gov.md/ro/publication/48
Below is the list of companies operating in the Republic of Moldova on the basis of franchising, being registered with the State Agency on Intellectual Property:
- Andy’s Pizza
- Pizza Mania
- TONY & GUY
- Tirex Petrol
- Planeta Sushi
- Il Patio
- Hertz
- Fourchette
- La placinte
- OVS
