A federal court in Virginia recently entered default judgment in favor of 7-Eleven, Inc. against a former franchisee, Sisara LLC. 7-Eleven, Inc. v. Sisara, LLC, 2025 WL 2453804 (W.D. Va. Aug. 26, 2025).
7-Eleven and Sisara entered into a franchise agreement in August 2021 for Sisara’s operation of a 7-Eleven store in Roanoke, Virginia. 7-Eleven and Sisara also executed a promissory note under which 7-Eleven agreed to finance portions of Sisara’s startup costs including the franchise fee. Within two years, 7-Eleven sent Sisara numerous notices of alleged franchise agreement violations including failure to comply with 7-Eleven’s cleanliness and food service standards and failure to maintain a minimum net worth requirement. After Sisara failed to cure its various defaults, 7-Eleven issued notices of termination in July 2024 and demanded that Sisara comply with the franchise agreement’s post-termination obligations including surrendering the store. After Sisara refused, 7-Eleven sued alleging breach of contract, trademark infringement, unfair competition, and breach of a promissory note. 7-Eleven also moved to preliminarily enjoin Sisara from operating the store. Sisara complied with a court-issued preliminary injunction but failed to respond to 7-Eleven’s complaint. 7-Eleven then moved for entry of default judgment.
The court entered default judgment against Sisara on all counts. The court first found that Sisara breached the franchise agreement and harmed 7-Eleven by failing to pay outstanding amounts owed and violating the post-termination obligations. The court next found that Sisara’s continued operation of the store constituted trademark infringement and unfair competition because the unauthorized use of 7-Eleven’s marks would confuse customers. Finally, the court found that Sisara breached the terms of the promissory note by failing to pay the full amount due. The court awarded 7-Eleven $183,672.82 in damages and permanently enjoined Sisara from further trademark infringement, unfair competition, and unlawful possession of the store.
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