ABSTRACT
[...]in Oregon and Florida, consumers can purchase CBD in their coffee.2 Following declassification of hemp as a Schedule I drug, a recent Gallup poll found that one in seven Americans use hemp-derived CBD products (although CBD derived from marijuana is still illegal under federal law and will not be addressed here). "3 CBD products are available at a variety of mainstream retailers including CVS, Walgreens, GNC, Kroger, Ulta Beauty, Abercrombie & Fitch, and American Eagle Outfitters.4 Industry research firms estimate that by 2024, CBD sales will exceed twenty billion dollars in the United States.5 Another study projects a twenty-five percent compound annual growth rate in the CBD edible market between 2020 and 2027.6 Many consumers rely on CBD to treat anxiety, pain, and insomnia.7 Other common usages include over-the-counter treatment for depression, muscle contractions, skin conditions, and digestive concerns.8 A third of pet owners have purchased CBD-infused treats, food, or other items for their cats and dogs, and purchases of CBD pet products are rapidly increasing as pet owners begin to return to the office following the nationwide lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.9 Considering this clear market demand and the likelihood that states will continue to ease restrictions on sale of CBD and other hemp-derived related products, franchisors may find entering the CBD market an irresistible opportunity-either through creating a new franchised system that primarily sells CBD products or by adding them as a new or additional product line in an existing system. [...]Section IV addresses many of the unique challenges associated with franchises selling CBD and proposes best practices for both franchisors and franchisees. "25 Guy believed a cannabis product with low levels of THC but high levels of CBD would be appealing for these users.26 By the late 1990s, several Northern California cannabis growers were cultivating high CBD/low THC strains and distributing both the seeds and their research about its effects at marijuana shops and fairs on the West Coast.27 In 2010, a group of medical marijuana researchers and cannabis growers founded Project CBD, a nonprofit corporation with the goal of collecting and promoting medical research regarding the benefits of CBD.28 In August 2013, CNN aired Dr. Sanjay Gupta's documentary Weed, which contained a segment describing the successful use of a CBD oil developed by the Stanley Brothers, called "Charlotte's Web," to reduce seizures in fiveyear old Charlotte Figi.29 After the segment, the wait list for the oil grew to 15,000 people, families moved to Colorado with the hope of using the oil, and the Food and Drug Administration fast-tracked trials of GW Pharmaceutical's CBD-based medication, Epidiolex.30 Popular culture acceptance and demand for CBD has continued to increase in the last decade.
ABSTRACT
By mid-February 2021, the outlook for the franchise sector had improved greatly, with IFA predicting that the number of franchised businesses would grow by the end of the year to offset 2020 losses and the number of franchise jobs would grow more than 10%, almost recovering fully from the 11.2% decline in 2020 employment, provided that COVID19 was managed.2 In July 2021, a fourth wave of COVID-19 swept through the United States fueled by the more transmissible Delta variant.3 The new surge in cases led businesses to delay their plans to require employees to return to the office starting in September 2021, creating concern that the economic recovery could be negatively impacted.4 At the time of this article's publication, the Omicron variant has just been discovered, with conflicting reports about its transmissibility and severity.5 When the influence of the pandemic recedes from the economy, the abatement may not benefit all sectors. [...]franchisors may become more aggressive about pursuing claims against franchisees for potential violations to try to enforce quality controls and preserve goodwill if the franchisees have fallen behind in compliance with brand standards due to the economic stresses of the pandemic, in which case the franchisors will seek to recover their lost future royalty streams to compensate for the loss of revenue until they can install a new franchisee to service the terminated franchisee's service area. [...]it is likely that the pandemic's long-term impact will cause an overall increase in franchisor-franchisee disputes and litigation. [...]for some claims, the onset of the pandemic might serve as a functional barrier on lost profit damages available to a plaintiff in a franchise dispute. "11 Thus, for a plaintiff to establish that it is entitled to an award of lost profits, it must prove not only that the underlying breach was both the "but-for" cause of its lost profits, but also that the conduct was a "substantial factor in bringing about the harm" and that the lost profits were caused by the breach and not some other factor.12 Moreover, if a plaintiff cannot prove that its lost profits were attributable specifically to the underlying breach where there are other potential causes of their loss, that lost profits claim should be rejected.13 B. Proving the Amount of Lost Profits Given that an award of lost profits necessarily requires an evaluation of potential events that ultimately did not come to pass, courts must weed out claims for damages that are too remote or speculative.14 Claims for lost profits are subjected to a heightened burden and must be proven with "reasonable certainty," or they will be deemed "too speculative" and will be rejected.15 Unfortunately, this "reasonable certainty" standard is not well defined, and courts have observed the difficulty in determining the precise quantum of proof needed to meet this standard.16 When making this evaluation, courts seek to balance the possibility of awarding a windfall to a wrongdoer by applying too high a bar to the recovery of lost profits, but also prevent that wrongdoer from becoming an unwitting guarantor of profits for plaintiffs.17 To carry its burden, a plaintiff must present evidence that is sufficiently persuasive not only to prove that it should be granted relief on its underlying claim, but also to prove that it meets this heightened "reasonable certainty" standard required for an award of lost profits and do so without the benefit of bright-line rules about what that standard requires or how it will be applied.
ABSTRACT
Franchise is a business privilege defined by franchise law through which the franchisee operates, performs the franchise activity of selling certain products or performing defined services by the franchisor. The franchisee uses the trademark, the service mark of the franchisor, all based on his work and methods in the defined activity, use of franchise privilege. Based on the franchise agreement, the franchisee pays the franchisor a franchise fee. A franchise agreement is based on the principles of contract law, concluded with the consent of the will of the contracting parties and belongs to unnamed contracts and by its nature is a mixed contract, since it also contains elements of some other contracts. National and international regulations affect the protection of intellectual property rights and determine the content and manner of performing franchise activities. Franchising as a segment of entrepreneurship is a complex legal and economic business model, created between two independent economic entities. Franchise business can be viewed from several business aspects, such as: the manner and method of growth of economic entities that are geographically conquering new markets;enable growth of production and distribution capabilities of franchisors and recipients;form of new entrepreneurial activity of economic entities towards winning and starting a business activity with the creation of new jobs;the emergence of a new organizational form and a new form of restructuring in organizational terms with the beginning of new distribution channels and finding new sources of funding. At the same time, franchise business from the aspect of the theoretical concept gained its practical verification of business success through the operationalization of franchising as a way and method, "Know-how " a concept that ensures the development and sustainable growth of the business entity in accepting franchising as a new opportunity in the economic development of the business entity. Also, today in these times of lockdown and closed stores and restaurants, franchisors and franchisees were and still are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and requested to adapt their sales model, planning and implementation to the circumstances, because a whole franchise system has been challenged.