The Organic Code on the Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation, together with the Organic Law on Regulation Against Unfair Competition, establishes a robust framework for the effective protection of trade secrets. The protection of commercial secrets is also recognised in Andean Community Decision No. 486.

There is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Ecuador to deliver telecom services to end users. It is practised both in the mobile and fixed sectors. The Organic Communication Law and complementary technical regulations are the theoretical frameworks for passive infrastructure sharing in Ecuador. According to Art. 3 of the Technical Standard for Shared Use of Physical Infrastructure of the General Telecommunications Regime Services, services providers related to the telecommunications sector have the obligation to share their physical infrastructure.

According to Art. 313 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador 2008, the State reserves the right to administer, regulate, control, and manage strategic sectors, including telecommunications. Furthermore, according to Arts. 316 of the Constitution of the State and Art. 14 of the Organic Law of Telecommunications, public telecommunications services are provided directly by the State, through public telecommunications companies, or indirectly through delegation to mixed economy companies in which it has a majority shareholding.

The Corporación Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (National Corporation of Telecommunications) is the dominant provider of fixed telecommunication services and is fully owned by the Ecuadorian Government. It was created by Executive Decree No. 218, which specifically establishes that the Ministry of Telecommunications and the Information Society, representing the State, is the sole shareholder.
La Empresa Pública Municipal de Telecomunicaciones, Agua Potable, Alcantarillado y Saneamiento de Cuenca (Etapa EP, Municipal Public Company of Telecommunications, Drinking Water, Sewage and Sanitation of Cuenca), created by a January 2010 ordinance, is another case in which the telecom operator is a state-owned enterprise. Initially created in February 1948 as Empresa Municipal de Electricidad, Agua Potable y Teléfonos (EMLAT), ETAPA EP provides municipal internet and fixed, wireless and public telephone services.

It is reported that Ecuador does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, it is reported that there is an obligation of accounting separation.

Art. 40 of the Organic Communications Law provides that for the granting and renewal of licenses for the provision of telecom services, the Agency on Telecommunication Regulation and Control (Agencia de Regulación y Control de las Telecomunicaciones, ARCOTEL) will consider the need to address: technological development, market evolution, the National Telecommunications Plan, the needs for the sustained development of the sector and of the State and universal access to information and communication technologies, as well as the effective satisfaction of the public or general interest.
Art. 40 also establishes that in the case of applications for the granting of new licenses, it must be evaluated whether any company or group of companies related to the applicant of the license provides the same service or similar services and the effects that the granting of the new license required could have on the market. For this purpose, a sworn statement must be submitted. In this regard, Art. 24 of the Telecommunications and Frequencies Enabling Titles Regulation provides that no license for the rendering of telecommunications services shall be granted to natural or juridical persons who have a valid license for the rendering of the same service of the general telecommunications regime, without prejudice to the application of the criteria set forth in Art. 40 of the Organic Law of Telecommunications.

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

According to Art. 98 of the Organic Law on Communications, all the advertising that is disseminated in Ecuadorian territory through the media must be produced in Ecuadorian territory by Ecuadorian natural persons or foreigners residing in Ecuador or produced abroad by Ecuadorian persons residing abroad or foreign legal entities whose ownership of the majority of the share package corresponds to Ecuadorians and whose payroll for its realisation and production is made up of at least 80% of Ecuadorian nationals. In addition, the importation of advertising pieces produced outside the country by foreign companies is prohibited, with the exception of what is established regarding foreign legal entities, with a majority of shares owned by Ecuadorians. According to the same article, advertising production is understood as television and movie commercials, radio spots, photographs for static advertising, or any other audiovisual piece used for advertising purposes.

Art. 6 of the Organic Law on Communication provides that national mass media outlets may not have any part of their shareholding owned, whether directly or indirectly, by foreign organisations or companies domiciled outside the Ecuadorian State, nor by foreign nationals, except for those foreign nationals who lawfully reside within Ecuador. Under Art. 5, mass media outlets comprise public, private, and community organisations, as well as holders of radio and television frequency concessions, which engage in the mass dissemination of communicational content through print media, radio, television, and subscription-based audio or video services, including content generated or reproduced online. Art. 6 further establishes that mass media outlets acquire national status when their coverage, publication, or circulation, as applicable, reaches 30% or more of the country’s population.
However, Art. 67 of the General Regulations to the Organic Law on Communication establishes an exception, under which foreign companies or nationals of countries that have entered into trade agreements with Ecuador are exempt from the aforementioned restriction.

n/f

According to Art. 98 of the Organic Code on Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativity, and Innovation, applicants who do not have residency in Ecuador must have an agent domiciled in the country who can help them register industrial property rights and answer petitions of competent national authority.

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

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

Art. 25.2 of the Organic Law on the National System of Public Procurement stipulates that, for the acquisition of goods and services not classified as of Ecuadorian origin under the relevant regulations, prior verification of the absence of Ecuadorian-origin offers shall be required. Such verification must be carried out through expeditious mechanisms that do not hinder the contracting process.