There are no limits on foreign ownership or control in Gabon. Investments in Gabon are governed by the Gabonese 1998 Investment Charter of 1998, which is aligned with the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) investment regulations. The Charter provides the same rights to foreign companies operating in Gabon as to domestic firms.

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 Organization (OAPI) is governed by the Regulations on the profession of Authorised Agent before the OAPI.

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

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). Although the Agreement establishes a set of copyright exceptions, these do not adhere to the fair use or fair dealing models.

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

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

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 (i) a natural or legal person of Gabonese law; (ii) a natural or legal person proving an economic activity on Gabonese territory; (iii) a small and medium-sized national company whose capital is majority owned by people of Gabonese nationality or Gabonese law; and (iv) 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). In accordance with Art. 119, the margin of preference is 10% for works contracts and 15% for supply contracts.

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

France has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

According to Art. 45-3 of the Postal and electronic communications code, ".fr" domains can only be registered by physical persons residing in the territory of an EU member state or legal persons established there.

According to Art. 289A of the General Taxation Code, a person not established in the European Union who is liable for the value-added tax or must fulfil reporting obligations is required to have a taxable representative established in France accredited to the tax office.

The Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU provides an updated framework aimed at encouraging online sales. The Directive has been implemented by Law no. 2004-575 of June 21, 2004 on confidence in the digital economy.

France has not signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.