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

Law No. 35 establishes a framework for the protection of trade secrets. Title IV of the Industrial Property Law regulates commercial and trade secrets and provides for liability for breaches of these provisions. In addition, Title IV of Executive Decree No. 7 of 17 February 1998 further implements and elaborates the rules set out in Law No. 35.

There is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Panama to deliver telecom services to end users. It is practised in both the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements. Under Arts. 3–8 of Executive Decree No. 138 of 1998, suppliers must provide requesting telecommunications operators with access to and shared use of infrastructure, including poles, conduits, inspection chambers, shelters and towers, where technically feasible and subject to fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions. Access may be established through commercial agreements or mandated by ASEP where the parties fail to reach an agreement.
Later in 2009, this framework has been supplemented by Resolution AN No. 2848-Telco. Under Art. 3 of its Annex A, concessionaires and infrastructure installers must permit the shared use of towers and structures supporting telecommunications antennas where technically feasible.

Art. 21 of Law No. 31 of 1996 authorises majority private foreign participation in the capital of telecommunications companies. However, a foreign government, or an enterprise or consortium dominated, controlled or majority-owned by a foreign government, may not provide telecommunications services or hold a direct or indirect majority interest in a telecommunications operator.

The government owns 49% of the shares of Cable & Wireless Panama, S.A., a Panamanian telecom company governed by private law.

Panama does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there has been an obligation to separate the accounts since 1997. Pursuant to Art. 86 of "Executive Decree No. 73, which implements Law No. 31 of 8 February 1996 on telecommunications regulation in Panama", telecommunications service concessionaires must submit audited financial statements to the Regulatory Authority within three months of the end of their fiscal year. Under Art. 86.1, concessionaires that provide more than one telecommunications service may comply by either maintaining separate accounts for each service, or maintaining separate accounts by type of service (Type A and Type B). In addition, concessionaires providing mobile cellular telephone services are required to maintain separate accounts for that service.

In Panama, the legal basis for telecommunications licensing is set out in Law No. 31 of 8 February 1996 (Telecommunications Law) and its principal implementing regulation, Executive Decree No. 73 of 9 April 1997, which operationalises the statutory framework. The Telecommunications Law governs the installation, operation, and provision of telecommunications networks and services through concessions and authorisations, and it allocates core supervisory and enforcement powers to the sector regulator, the National Authority for Public Services (ASEP).
The Law establishes a dual regulatory classification. Type A services may be granted by the State under temporary exclusivity or to a limited number of concessionaires (Art. 7(1)), whereas Type B services are generally provided under conditions of free competition (Art. 7(2)). Consistent with this classification, ASEP identifies Type A services, including personal communication services and mobile services, while Type B services encompass a broader range of activities, including, inter alia, basic international telecommunications and fixed and mobile radio communications, among others.
In addition, Art. 1 of Law No. 36 imposes sector-specific constraints on licensing in mobile telephony by limiting the number of concessions to operate mobile telephony services to three, thereby consolidating the market structure.

Under Art. 13 of the consolidated text of Law No. 22 of 2006, introduced by Law No. 153 of 8 May 2020, contracting entities acquiring goods and services must first consider the viability, availability and quality of goods and services produced in Panama.
In addition, Art. 7 of Executive Decree No. 439 of 10 September 2020 requires contracting entities to specify in the tender documents that the goods or services must be of Panamanian origin, production, processing, manufacture or provision where the procurement falls outside the applicable coverage of Panama’s international agreements, taking into account the relevant monetary thresholds, covered entities and goods or services.

Panama has not appended the WTO Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

Art. 10 of Law No. 22 provides that the State must promote the competitive participation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in certain acts of contractor selection carried out by public institutions.
Art. 88 of Executive Decree No. 439 further elaborates on the provision mentioned above, stating that in the case of minor procurement acts, the entity must select the proposal submitted by the micro or small enterprises, provided that it complies with the requirements and demands of the tender documents and the proposed price is not greater than 5 % in relation to the lowest price proposal submitted by another type of enterprise.

It is reported that the Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos (ASEP, National Public Service Authority), the executive authority responsible for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent of the government in its decision-making.

It is reported that transparency and accountability deficits persist in Panama’s government procurement practices. Foreign investors have complained about a lack of transparency since at least 2015. More specifically, since 2019, firms have reported delayed payments by government ministries and procurement procedures in which tender requirements may change during the bidding process, creating the perception that certain tenders are tailored to particular companies. Law 153 of 8 May 2020 amended the public procurement framework with the stated objective of modernising procurement and strengthening transparency, including through the PanamaCompra electronic system. Nevertheless, concerns regarding transparency, procedural delays and government non-payment continued to be reported through 2025.
Separately, investors have reported corruption in the private sector and at different levels of government, including the overbilling of purchase orders or the retention of percentages from them.

Panama is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). However, the country has been an observer of the WTO GPA since 1997.

Art. 21 of Law No. 31 of 1996 authorises majority private foreign participation in the capital of telecommunications companies. However, a foreign government, or an enterprise or consortium dominated, controlled or majority-owned by a foreign government, may not provide telecommunications services or hold a direct or indirect majority interest in a telecommunications operator.

Pursuant to Art. 29 of Law No. 35, a patent application must be filed through a lawyer using the form provided by the Directorate General of the Industrial Property Registry of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (DIGERPI). For applicants residing abroad, the application must also designate an address in the Republic of Panama for administrative and judicial notifications, and be accompanied by proof of payment of the applicable fee and filing fee.