The catchment area is a marketing tool: it is measured in travel time, divided into primary, secondary and tertiary zones, and a potential turnover is deduced from it. The law does not define it.
Yet it becomes the central issue in many franchise disputes, in a roundabout way: the franchisee who sees another outlet of the same network open nearby suffers internal competition, which cuts into its turnover while it continues to owe its fees.
The law gives it little purchase. Territorial exclusivity must be stipulated in the agreement; failing that, it does not exist. The franchisee then only has a claim on the ground of good faith, or of defective consent at the time the contract was formed.
That is precisely what Bernard Collorafi challenged in 1997, when McDonald's was considering an opening in Vallauris — and the company replied to him in writing that his agreement contained no territorial exclusivity.