Know-how is what distinguishes a franchise from a mere trade mark licence. It is also what the franchisee pays for: the fee only has consideration if the network passes on methods that are worth something.
European law defines it by three cumulative adjectives — secret, substantial, identified —, a formula unchanged since the 1988 regulation. The “identified” requirement explains the existence of the operations manual: without a document, there is no proof of the know-how.
The Court of Justice held as early as the Pronuptia judgment (1986) that protecting this know-how justifies the most restrictive clauses of the agreement: prohibition on operating a competing business, confidentiality obligation, approval of the transferee. The 2022 regulation sets its limit: a non-compete obligation after the end of the agreement is permitted only if it is limited to the premises of operation, indispensable to protect the know-how, and of a maximum duration of one year.