Malaysia legislation
Section 4
Section 4
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
“advertisement” means any publication, circular, notice, or any oral or written communication, whether broadcasted by electronic or any other publishing media, or any form of electronic communications to the public for the purpose of offering the sale of a franchise or promoting the sale of a franchise;
“authorized officer” means an officer authorized in writing by the
Minister under section 42 to exercise the powers of enforcement under this Act;
“disclosure documents” means such disclosure documents as may be prescribed by the Minister;
“franchise” means a contract or an agreement, either expressed or implied, whether oral or written, between two or more persons by which—
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(a)
the franchisor grants to the franchisee the right to operate a business according to the franchise system as determined by the franchisor during a term to be determined by the franchisor;
(b)
the franchisor grants to the franchisee the right to use a mark, or a trade secret, or any confidential information or intellectual property, owned by the franchisor or relating to the franchisor, and includes a situation where the franchisor, who is the registered user of, or is licensed by another person to use, any intellectual property, grants such right that he possesses to permit the franchisee to use the intellectual property;
(c)
the franchisor possesses the right to administer continuous control during the franchise term over the franchisee’s business operations in accordance with the franchise system; and
(d)
(Deleted by Act A1442).
(e)
in return for the grant of rights, the franchisee may be required to pay a fee or other form of consideration.
(f)
(Deleted by Act A1442).
“franchise agreement” means a contract or an agreement made between a franchisor and a franchisee in respect of a franchise in return for any form of consideration but does not include any contract or agreement made for the purpose of direct selling as provided by the
Direct Sales Act 1993 [Act 500];
“franchise broker” means a person doing business as an agent or representative of a franchisor to sell a franchise to any person for a certain consideration but does not include any director, officer or employee of the franchisor or franchisee;
“franchise consultant” means a person who provides advice and consultancy services to another person on the registration of a franchise business and compliance of the related laws;
10 Laws of Malaysia ACT 590
“franchisee” means a person to whom a franchise is granted and includes, unless stated otherwise in this Act—
(a)
a master franchisee with regard to his relationship with a franchisor; and
(b)
a subfranchisee with regard to his relationship with a master franchisee;
“franchisor” means a person who grants a franchise to a franchisee and includes a master franchisee with regard to his relationship with a subfranchisee, unless stated otherwise in this Act;
“mark” includes a trade mark, service mark, symbol, design, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word and letter or any combination of them;
“master franchisee” means a person who has been granted rights by a franchisor to subfranchise to another person, at his own expense, the franchise of the franchisor;
“Minister” means the Minister for the time being charged with the responsibility for matters relating to franchises;
“person” includes a natural person, corporation, partnership, association, firm, joint venture or trust;
“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made under this Act;
“Registrar”, “Deputy Registrar” and “Assistant Registrar” mean respectively the Registrar of Franchises, a Deputy Registrar of Franchises and an Assistant Registrar of Franchises appointed under section 5;
“regulations” means regulations made under this Act;
“subfranchise” means a franchise granted by a master franchisee to a subfranchisee for business purposes under this Act;
“subfranchisee” means a subfranchise holder;
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“this Act” includes any regulations made under this Act.