Gabon has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

Gabon Telecom SA, the incumbent public operator is fully owned by the Gabonese state. Gabon Telecom SA is the major supplier of internet access with around 59% market share (number of subscribers) in 2021.

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

Gabon does not have comprehensive trade secret legislation. Yet, there are 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 ratified by 17 French-speaking States, including Gabon since 2002.

It is reported that there is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Gabon to deliver telecom services to end users. It is practiced in the mobile sector and in the fixed sector based on commercial agreements.

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

According to Art. 30 of Ordinance No. 00000015 / PR / 2018 of 23 February 2018 regulating cybersecurity and the fight against cybercrime in the Gabonese Republic, the service provider or the person providing or importing a cryptology service has to make it available to the competent cryptology authority a description of the technical characteristics of this means of cryptology, as well as the source code of the software used. Also, following Art. 34, when it appears that the data entered or obtained during the investigation have been the subject of transformation operations preventing unencrypted access or are likely to compromise the information that they contain, the Public Prosecutor, the Examining Magistrate or the trial court may demand any qualified natural or legal person, with a view to carrying out the technical operations making it possible to obtain the unencrypted version of said data.

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

Gabon has a clear regime of copyright exceptions, which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission (Arts. 33-37 of Law No. 1/87). The regime follows the fair use model. 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 Gabon 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.

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

According to the Bangui Agreement, ratified by 17 French-speaking States, including Gabon, 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 Organisation (OAPI) is governed by the Regulations on the profession of Authorised Agent before the OAPI.

It is reported that there is a residency requirement for the board of directors in Gabon. All companies, irrespective of the type of company and nationality, must have one resident representative on the management board.

According to Art. 119 of the Public Procurement Code 2018, when awarding a contract, in case of equivalent offers, priority is given to a tender presented either by: a natural or legal person of Gabonese law; a natural or legal person proving an economic activity on Gabonese territory; a small and medium-sized national company whose capital is majority owned by people of Gabonese nationality or Gabonese law; business groups associating Gabonese companies or providing for significant subcontracting to nationals. In the regional framework, a community preference can be attributed to the offer presented by a company from the area of ​​the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).

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

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