According to Art. 66 of Decree-Law No. 20/2012, there is a community preference. When a public contract or delegation of public service is awarded, preference must be given to the bid submitted by a community company from the West African Economic Monetary Union - WAEMU community. The Community preference must be quantified in the form of a percentage of the bid amount of the offer. This percentage is set at 15%, and the Community preference margin must be provided in the tender document. In addition, according to Art. 30, in case of a contract with a local authority or one of the public entities, a candidate intending to subcontract at least 30% of the total contract value to a company from a national company may benefit from an additional preference margin up to 5%.

Guinea-Bissau is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), nor does it have observer status.

It is reported that some activities, including fixed telephone services, are reportedly closed to domestic or foreign private investment in Guinea-Bissau. This is despite the fact that no restrictions are found in the current legislation. In fact, Art. 6 of the Investment Code (Law No. 3/2011) states that in accordance with this Code and other laws, foreign and domestic investors enjoy equal treatment before the State and all its institutions. In addition, the Basic Law on Information and Communications Technology (Law No. 5/2010) does not contain any restrictions on market access for foreign suppliers. Yet, for fixed telephony, the state-owned operator Guiné Telecom is the only provider of these services. In 1989, the government created Guiné Telecom. At the time, Portugal Telecom (PT) took a stake in the company, but in 2010, it withdrew its participation in the country's monopoly. In 2013, the government declared Guiné Telecom bankrupt, and the company was effectively shut down, but in September 2021, it was announced that it would resume operations in the country. In that month, Guiné Telecom was granted a new concession, Single Individual Licence No. GNB01SFT2021, to operate as a network and infrastructure operator and provider of fixed telecommunications services throughout Guinea-Bissau. In 2023, it was reported that Guinea-Bissau was looking to sell shares in Guiné Telecom.

According to the Bangui Agreement, ratified by 17 States, including Guinea-Bissau, applicants resident outside the territory of the Member States must file through an agent selected in one of those Member States (Section III, Art. 8). The professional status of agent accredited to the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) is governed by the Regulations on the Profession of Authorised Agent before the OAPI.

Guinea-Bissau is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Guinea-Bissau has a copyright regime under the Copyright Code. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Arts. 181-188 list the exceptions, which include: reproduction by organs of the press of speeches and other statements made in public; the performance of hymns or officially adopted patriotic songs; works of a religious nature during religious services or acts; work included in educational programs or books, when integrated into teaching; among others.
In addition, the Revised Bangui Agreement, which is a regional intellectual property law that is not only a regional convention applicable in all member states but also serves as a national intellectual property law in Guinea-Bissau and each of the other member states, contains provisions on copyright in Annex VII: Chapter IV (Limitations to Economic Rights) and establishes a regime of copyright exceptions. Nevertheless, these exceptions similarly do not conform to the fair use or fair dealing models.

Guinea-Bissau has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Guinea-Bissau has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Guinea-Bissau does not have a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them. In particular, the country has established provisions addressing disclosure, acquisition or use of confidential information in the course of industrial or commercial activities by third parties in Art. 6 of Annex VIII of the Bangui Agreement, which has been ratified by 17 States, including Guinea-Bissau in 2002.

According to Art. 1 of Decree No. 21/2013, there is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Guinea-Bissau to deliver telecom services to end users.

Some activities, including fixed telephone services, are reportedly not open to domestic or foreign private investment in Guinea-Bissau. This is despite the fact that no restrictions are found in the current legislation. In fact, Art. 6 of the Investment Code (Law No. 3/2011) states that in accordance with this Code and other laws, foreign and domestic investors enjoy equal treatment before the State and all its institutions. In addition, the Basic Law on Information and Communications Technology (Law No. 5/2010) does not contain any restrictions on market access for foreign suppliers. Yet, for fixed telephony, the state-owned operator Guiné Telecom is the only provider of these services. In 1989, the government created Guiné Telecom. At the time, Portugal Telecom (PT) took a stake in the company, but in 2010, it withdrew its participation in the country's monopoly. In 2013, the government declared Guiné Telecom bankrupt, and the company was effectively shut down, but in September 2021, it was announced that it would resume operations in the country. In that month, Guiné Telecom was granted a new concession, Single Individual Licence No. GNB01SFT2021, to operate as a network and infrastructure operator and provider of fixed telecommunications services throughout Guinea-Bissau. In 2023, it was reported that Guinea-Bissau was looking to sell shares in Guiné Telecom.

The government owns shares in certain telecom companies. In particular, Guiné Telecom (Companhia de Telecomunicações da Guiné-Bissau) is a state-owned company and has a monopoly on the fixed-line network. Moreover, Guinetel, which operates in the mobile telecom sector, is a subsidiary of the Guiné Telecom. It is reported that the government launched a proposal for the privatisation of state-owned telecom companies, which is still ongoing.

Guinea has not signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.