At Coleman Greig, we are often asked by clients “What is the difference between licensing and franchising?”
Generally speaking, licensing and franchising both deal with the selling of certain intellectual properties to third parties such as software, trademark, or a business process. Franchising however has a greater deal of control by the franchisor than a licence.
A franchise always includes a licence of the brand and operating methods, along with assistance (such as training and an Operations Manual) or support (providing advice, quality control, inspections etc).
The Franchising Code defines a franchise agreement as an agreement, either written, verbal or implied, that has the following characteristics… carry on reading.