It is reported that foreign investment projects in Saint Lucia require prior government approval. Non-CARICOM companies seeking to conduct business in Saint Lucia with an ownership stake exceeding 49% are required to obtain a trade licence from the Ministry of Commerce, Manufacturing, Business Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs or through Invest Saint Lucia (ISL). As also stated in Arts. 5 and 6 of the 1985 Trade Licences Act, licence applications are examined by the Trade Licence Advisory Board, which submits a recommendation to the Minister, who takes the final decision.

It is reported that the Patents Act, No. 16 of 2001 has not yet entered into force, as the implementing regulations have not been brought into effect. As a result, in practice, patents are not granted domestically. However, patent protection may be secured through the registration or extension of granted United Kingdom patents under the Commercial Code (Part I, Patents, Art. 660A and related provisions).

Saint Lucia is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

The Copyright Act has a clear regime of copyright exceptions that follows the fair dealing model, which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission. Art. 55–57 lists the exceptions, which include research, private study, criticism, or review. In those cases where the purpose is unclear, the court is responsible for determining fair dealing.

Saint Lucia has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Saint Lucia has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

The Protection Against Unfair Competition Act provides a comprehensive framework for the effective protection of trade secrets (Arts. 8-9). In addition, Art. 13 (g) of the Telecommunications Act mandates that records of trade secrets not be made available to the public for inspection.

Sections 49 and 50 of the Telecommunications Act mandate the sharing of passive infrastructure in Saint Lucia.

It is reported that Saint Lucia mandates functional and accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market.

The licensing regime in the telecom sector is regulated by the Telecommunications (Private Networking Licensing) Regulations and the Telecommunications (Licensing and authorisation) Regulations.
According to Art. 14 of the Telecommunications (Licensing and Authorisation) Regulations, when it is proposed to limit the number of licenses for the operation of a certain type of telecommunications network or the provision of a certain type of telecommunications service, the Commission, upon the recommendation of Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL), shall publish a consultative document containing the reasons for the proposed limitation.
According to Arts. 4 and 5 of the Telecommunications (Fees) Regulations, individual and class licenses are subject to a non-refundable application fee, a one-time initial fee (upon approval of the application), and an annual license fee expressed either as a percentage of the licensee's gross revenue or a fixed amount; for fixed-line, mobile, and Internet service providers, these fees are XCD 1,000 (USD 370), XCD 20,000 (USD 7,400), and 3% of annual gross revenue, respectively.

Saint Lucia is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).

According to Art. 57 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, regional or international open competitive tendering is only allowed in cases where sufficient competition does not exist in Saint Lucia and only above SDR 155,000 (approx. USD 241,000) for contracting goods and services (Schedule 3).

According to Art. 47 (e) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, in instances of regional or international competitive tendering, the percentage of participation by nationals among key staff in the execution of the public procurement is taken into account as a criterion for the selection of the tenderer.

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