According to Art. 27 of the Trade Licensing Act, any person wishing to commence a service business must obtain a license and pay an annual fee. Any person who carries on a business without first obtaining a license from the Board commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction for each offence to a fine not exceeding 100 BZD (approx. 50 USD).

According to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Resolution, no person or entity shall import, install, sell or use any telecom equipment in Belize without a permit from the PUC.

Sections 143 and 144 of the Constitution of Belize stipulate that the government shall, at all times, retain majority ownership and control of Belize Telemedia Limited, the nation’s principal telecommunications provider.

According to Art. 61 of the Patents Act, every applicant for a patent whose ordinary residence or principal place of business is outside Belize shall be represented by an attorney-at-law (as an agent) who is resident in Belize and practicing in Belize in accordance with the relevant law.

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

Belize has a clear regime under the Copyright Act 2000 of copyright exceptions that follow the fair dealing model, which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission. Arts. 55-85 list the exceptions, which include: research and private study (Art. 56); criticism, review, and reporting (Art. 57); educational purposes (Arts. 60-65); copying by librarians or archivists (Arts. 66 to 70); public administration (Arts. 71-72); literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic works (Arts. 76-80); among others.

Belize has adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Belize has adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Belize does not possess a comprehensive framework that affords robust protection for trade secrets; nevertheless, the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the country constitutes a multifaceted process grounded in both statutory provisions and Common Law principles.

According to Art. 4 of the Infrastructure Sharing Regulations, all licensees shall (i) have a right and, when requested, an obligation to negotiate the sharing of infrastructure and facilities with each other for the purpose of providing public telecommunications services, or for any other purpose deemed to be in the public interest by the Commission; (ii) negotiate in good faith with each other on matters concerning the sharing of infrastructure and facilities; (iii) neither withdraw from nor impair arrangements for the sharing of infrastructure and facilities once already granted, unless authorised to do so by the Commission. Furthermore, pursuant to Art. 7 of the Regulations, a licensee shall provide infrastructure and facilities sharing under the same terms and conditions as that offered to any other licensee.

Sections 143 and 144 of the Constitution of Belize stipulate that the government shall, at all times, retain majority ownership and control of Belize Telemedia Limited, the nation’s principal telecommunications provider.

It is reported that the government owns shares in Belize Telemedia Limited, the country’s largest telecommunications provider. The Government is the majority shareholder: it directly holds 49.3% of the issued ordinary shares, while the Social Security Board, another state entity, holds an additional 34.3%. The Central Bank of Belize holds a further 8.07% shareholding.

It is reported that Belize does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there is an obligation of accounting separation. In addition, according to Art. 30 of the Telecommunications Act, the Public Utilities Commission of Belize may prescribe reasonable accounting procedures in accordance with international accounting and costing standards to determine the cost of operations, which shall be followed and implemented by all public telecommunication service providers.

According to Art. 16 of the Telecommunications Act, the Public Utilities Commission of Belize (PUC) may consider any element of national interest, policy or security in granting a license. In addition, under Art. 18, the PUC, in granting the license, shall require the licensee, at the request of the Government, to cooperate with the Minister in national security matters. In addition, according to Art. 19, the PUC may suspend, modify, revoke or refuse to renew a license for national security or public interest reasons.

It is reported that a minimum capital requirement must be satisfied in order to obtain a telecommunications licence.