KENNEBUNK — A federal court ruled against a request made by the Toddle Inn franchise to grant a restraining order that would have required a competitor to close its doors.

In a complaint filed on behalf of Toddle Inn Franchising in federal court on July 31, attorneys Timothy Bryant and Benjamin Piper state that KPJ Associates violated a contract with Toddler Inn and wanted the group to cease operation of its day care, Kennebunk Children’s Academy.

Bryant and Piper state that KPJ Associates wrote a letter to Toddle Inn President Cheryl Carrier on on July 27 stating that the group was closing its Toddle Inn day care center at 8 Independence Drive and operating a new day care center at the same location on July 30.

Bryant and Piper state that KPJ associates violated the post-termination provisions of the franchise agreement by operating a competing day care center, Kennebunk Children’s Academy, in the same location within two years of closing a Toddle Inn day care center.

Bryant and Piper state that KPJ Associates further violated the contract by using a customized Toddle Inn floor plan and furniure. Bryant and Piper stated that KPJ Associates is also violating the contract because the new day care center is using former Toddle Inn staff trained in the Toddle Inn system. The two lawyers state that parents were informed the Kennebunk facility would keep all the same policies in place and the only change would be the name.

U.S. District Court ruled on Aug. 2 that the franchise agreement had expired in July 2016 and there was insufficient evidence that any Toddle Inn system had been misappropriated, according to a press release from Nate Levesque, spokesman for law firm Eaton Peabody.

The court also ruled that Toddle Inn’s request for the court to close the Kennebunk Children’s Academy would likely disrupt childcare arrangements for many families who used the Kennebunk Children’s Academy, according to Levesque.

“Having previously been in the Toddle Inn system, my mission with Kennebunk Children’s Academy is to create a day care center that is very different from the Toddle Inn,” said Kennebunk Children’s Academy owner Kathie Murphy in a written statement. “Our core mission is the children and their families. It begins and ends with them.”

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.