Armenia lacks a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them. Under Art. 141 of the Civil Code, information qualifies as a commercial secret when it has actual or potential commercial value by virtue of being unknown to third persons, is not freely accessible on a lawful basis, and is subject to measures taken by its holder to preserve its confidentiality. Such information is protected under the Civil Code and other statutes, and persons who unlawfully obtain it are required to compensate for any resulting losses.
Furthermore, pursuant to Art. 1164 of the Code, the legal protection of undisclosed information—including technical, organisational, or commercial information such as production secrets or know-how—arises when the conditions in Art. 141 are met, regardless of whether any formalities, such as registration or certification, have been completed. Art. 1165 further establishes that any person who, without legal grounds, obtains, discloses, or uses such information must compensate the lawful holder for the losses caused by its illegal use.

It is reported that there is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Armenia to deliver telecom services to end users. It is reported that infrastructure sharing is practised in the mobile sector based on commercial agreements.
According to Art. 25 of Law No. HO-176-N of 2005 on Electronic Communications, dominant operators holding a line facility are required to lease their capacity to other operators on equal and non-discriminatory terms. They must publish information on the location and available capacity of their line facilities and respond to written requests for leasing within 14 days. The law further obliges dominant operators to ensure that all conditions and requirements for the use of a line facility are identical across all operators, thereby preventing preferential treatment. Under Art. 2 of the law, a “line facility” is defined as the part of a public electronic communications network permanently attached to the land or the bottom of a body of water, including, but not limited to, cables, wires, conduits, ducts, radio towers or pole attachments, and the necessary cross-connections.

The government holds a 20% minority stake in Viva Armenia, the country’s major mobile operator. This shareholding originated in 2024, when Fedilco Group Limited, having acquired Viva Armenia from the Russia-based MTS, transferred a 20% stake to the Armenian government as a gift. Although the government has reportedly expressed plans to divest this share, it currently retains ownership.

Armenia imposes functional and accounting separation obligations on operators with SMP-equivalent status, referred to in the Law on Electronic Communications as operators holding a “dominant position.” Under Arts. 22–23, the regulator determines which operators or service providers are dominant in the relevant electronic communications markets. Pursuant to Art. 36(2), each dominant operator must maintain separate accounts in a form that enables the regulator to assess compliance with interconnection obligations. In addition, Art. 24 empowers the regulator to require dominant operators or dominant service providers to provide competitive services through fully separated subsidiaries or affiliates, to implement structural separation between dominant and competitive activities, and to adopt other separation safeguards where necessary to protect competition.

Tendering processes in the country are reportedly characterised by a lack of transparency. Companies consider the efforts of the Competition Protection Commission (CPC) alone to be insufficient to ensure a level playing field, emphasising the need for improvements across other state institutions and authorities that support competition, including those responsible for public procurement. Stakeholders report that the time allowed for preparing bids following the announcement of a tender is often limited, and that documentation requirements, particularly those involving translations, can be burdensome for companies operating outside Armenia.
It is reported that although the law establishes a preference for open tendering in procurement processes, this approach has been used relatively infrequently in recent years, with greater reliance placed on framework agreements and negotiation procedures without prior announcement.

Pursuant to Section 9 of the Annex to Decision No. 884-L of 14 June 2024 on the Development and Implementation of the “Cloud First” Policy, when selecting a cloud environment for hosting an official website, preference must be given, all other conditions being equal, to server infrastructure located within Armenia.

Armenia is a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). Its GPA commitments include full coverage of computer and related services (CPC 84). However, Armenia’s commitments do not cover other service sectors that are particularly relevant for digital trade. In particular, the country covers only part of the activities falling under CPC 752 (telecommunications services) and does not cover CPC 754 (telecommunications-related services).

The legal framework regulating foreign investment in Armenia is set out in the Law of the Republic of Armenia on Foreign Investments. Under Art. 6, foreign investments must not be treated less favourably than the property, property rights, and investment activities of citizens, enterprises, institutions, and organisations of Armenia. Art. 6.3 provides that, for national security reasons, the Republic of Armenia may specify areas in which the activities of foreign investors and enterprises with foreign participation are restricted or prohibited. Nevertheless, Armenia is reported to impose few restrictions on foreign control, and foreign nationals face no limitations on acquiring, establishing, or disposing of business interests in the country, while business registration procedures are generally straightforward.

According to Art. 6 of the Law on Patents of the Republic of Armenia, foreign natural persons and organisations enjoy the same rights and bear the same liabilities as citizens and organisations of Armenia, in line with international treaties or the principle of reciprocity.
Under Art. 80.1, those without a permanent residence or an effective industrial or commercial establishment in Armenia must act through a representative before the state-authorised body, unless otherwise provided by international treaties. However, Art. 80.3 allows foreign applicants to proceed without a representative if they provide a postal or electronic address in Armenia for correspondence. If neither a representative nor a local address is provided, the authority grants three months to comply, after which, under Art. 80.5, the application is deemed withdrawn.
Formal registration is reportedly straightforward and clear; the database of registered IPR is public, and applications to register IPR are published online for 2 months for third-party comment.

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

Armenia has a copyright regime under the Law of the Republic of Armenia on Copyright and Related Rights. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, thereby limiting the lawful use of copyrighted works by others. Arts. 22–26 and 36 set out the exceptions, including quotation for research or informational purposes, educational use, private non-commercial reproduction of works (with certain exclusions), and short-term recordings by broadcasting organisations, among others.
It has been reported that a new Law on Copyright has been drafted and submitted for the government’s approval, although the legal text is not publicly available online.

Although Armenian legislation provides protection for intellectual property rights (IPR), enforcement remains challenging. It is reported that in 2023, Armenia had the highest rate of unlicensed software in the region, at 79%, followed by the Republic of Moldova (77%) and Belarus (76%). While the Armenian government has made some progress in addressing IPR issues, further strengthening of enforcement mechanisms is reportedly necessary.

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

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