It is reported that the government owns 100% shares of Refer Telecom - Serviços de Telecomunicações S.A., which offers telecommunication services such as high-speed internet, fixed and mobile telephony, and cable television, among others. In addition, the government owns 51.1% of RENTELECOM-Comunicações, S.A. The company offers telecommunications services, including Internet, telephony, and television. Furthermore, it is reported that the State owns 100% of EMACOM - Telecomunicações da Madeira, Unipessoal, which offers telecommunications services, including fixed and mobile telephony, internet, and television. Finally, the government of Portugal owns 51% of MINHOCOM and Valicom, both of which offer planning, design, implementation and maintenance services for telecommunications infrastructures, as well as project management and consulting in the area.

It is reported that functional separation is not mandated for operators with significant market power (SMP). In the Electronic Communication Law, it is foreseen the possibility of imposition of the functional separation obligation, however, Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM) did not impose it in practice (instead imposed equivalence of inputs/outputs). Art. 66 provides for the possibility, as an exceptional measure, of imposing the remedy of functional separation on SMP operators. On the other hand, accounting separation is required, and it applies to SMP operators in the relevant markets where this obligation was imposed.

It is reported that the Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides a comprehensive framework for data protection that applies to all EU Member States. Law No. 58/2019 implemented the GDPR in Portugal.

Under the EU Directive on Data Retention, operators were required to retain certain categories of traffic and location data (excluding the content of those communications) for a period between six months and two years and to make them available, on request, to law enforcement authorities for the purposes of investigating, detecting and prosecuting serious crime and terrorism. On 8 April 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union declared the Directive invalid. However, not all national laws that implemented the Directive have been overturned.
In Portugal, the Directive has yet to be repealed, and it has been implemented through Law No. 32/2008 on data processing. Article 6 of the Law establishes a retention period of one year for the following categories of data:
- Data necessary to find and identify the source of a communication.
- Data necessary to trace and identify the destination of a communication.
- Data necessary to identify the date, time and duration of a communication.
- Data necessary to identify the type of communication.
- Data necessary to identify the users' telecommunications equipment or what is considered to be their equipment.
- Data necessary to identify the location of mobile communication equipment.

The Directive 2000/31/EC (E-Commerce Directive) is the legal basis governing the liability of Internet Services Providers (ISPs) in the EU Member States and includes a conditional safe harbour. Not all Member States have transposed the relevant articles consistently, leading to divergent national case law that could cause legal insecurity on an EU level.
In Portugal, the safe harbour is mainly defined in the Information Decree-Law No. 7/2004 as implementing Directive 2000/31/EC, therefore covering activities of mere conduit, intermediary storage and hosting (Arts. 11 to 19 Decree Law No. 7/2004). Portuguese legislation introduces additional particularities and liability exemptions such as, under certain circumstances, intermediary liability for content aggregation providers, mainly hyperlinking and search engine services (Art. 17 Decree Law No. 7/2004).

It is reported that Portugal’s legal environment encourages foreign investment. Portuguese law prohibits any discrimination between investments on the basis of nationality, and most foreign investments are not regulated.

Portugal’s foreign direct investment screening mechanism is mainly found in Decree-Law No. 138/2014. The legislation provides for screening in connection to strategic assets in sensitive industry sectors such as energy, transport, and telecommunications. The mechanism establishes both an ex-post opposition screening regime and the possibility for any interested party to request previous confirmation from the Portuguese government. The authorities responsible for foreign direct investment screening in Portugal are the respective Ministries responsible for the energy, transport and communication sectors and the Portuguese Council of Ministers. The Portuguese FDI screening mechanism is triggered if (i) the transaction results, directly or indirectly, in the acquisition of direct or indirect control over strategic assets; and (ii) the person(s) acquiring such control are third-country nationals, i.e. they are domiciled in or their statutory headquarters or effective place of business is in a non-EU or EEA country. It is reported that although Portugal has not yet activated its investment screening mechanism, the government has indicated that an inter-institutional working group of the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs will be reactivated to align the Portuguese investment screening law with the EU directive and deliver concrete results.

The official language of proceedings before the Portuguese Industrial Property Office (INPI) is Portuguese. However, the application may initially be filed in English. A Portuguese translation thereof must be submitted within one month of the corresponding notification from the Office, provided that an additional fee is paid. Moreover, it is reported that different activities within the application procedure have to be assisted by an intellectual property agent, such as the submission of specific translations (see Art. 83 Decree-Law No. 110/2018).

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

There is no general principle for the use of copyright-protected material comparable to the fair use/fair dealing principles. Directive 2001/29/EC defines an optional but exhaustive set of limitations from the author´s exclusive rights under the control of the “three-step test” in line with the Berne Convention that establishes three cumulative conditions to the limitations and exceptions of a copyright holder’s rights. Member States have transposed the Directive with significant freedom.
The amendment of Law No 62/98 (Decree-Law 63/1986) applies to Directive 2001/29/EC. The exceptions mentioned in the law include:
- Temporary reproduction - Reproduction of work exclusively for private purposes;
- Reproduction and making available to the public by the media for the purpose of information, speeches, addresses and conferences given in public;
- Reproduction by a public library, a public archive, a public museum, a non-commercial documentation centre or a scientific institution or educational institution under conditions listed in the law;
- Reproduction, distribution and public availability for teaching and education purposes;
- Quotation.

It has been reported that, between 2017 and 2022, Portugal recorded one of the highest rates of internet piracy among EU Member States. Portugal, along with Greece and Cyprus, notably leads the EU in piracy rates of live sporting events, significantly exceeding the EU average. Moreover, it is reported that in 2022, pirated TV content experienced a notable increase, with TV shows, series, and on-demand movies being the most commonly pirated genres.

The European Union and Portugal have adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty. The treaty was ratified on 14 December 2009 and came into effect on 14 March 2010.

The European Union and Portugal have adopted the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty. The treaty was ratified on 14 December 2009 and came into effect on 14 March 2010.

The Directive 2016/943 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) is key in harmonising national laws concerning trade secrets. Portugal transposed the Directive through Decree-Law No. 110/2018 on Intellectual Property Law.