It is reported that Costa Rica's Telecommunications Superintendency (SUTEL), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

According to Art. 31(f) of Law No. 8968, transferring personal information of Costa Ricans or resident foreigners in the country to databases located in third countries without the consent of its owners is considered a serious offence.

Costa Rica has joined trade agreements covering cooperation commitments on open transfers of cross-border data flows. However, none of these commitments includes binding rules on cross-border data transfers. These include:
- Art. 15.5.d of the Tratado de Libre Comercio entre los Estados Unidos Mexicanos y las Repúblicas de Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras y Nicaragua;
- Art. 16.7.c of the Tratado de Libre Comercio entre la República de Colombia y la República de Costa Rica.

Data privacy regulation in Costa Rica is contained in two laws:
- Law No. 7975, the Undisclosed Information Law, which makes it a crime to disclose confidential and/or personal information without authorisation;
- Law No. 8968, Protection in the Handling of the Personal Data of Individuals, together with its by-laws, which were enacted to regulate the activities of companies that administer databases containing personal information. The latter includes the authorisation of PRODHAB ("Agencia de Protección de Datos de los Habitantes"), the inhabitants' Data Protection Agency.

Costa Rica has a safe harbour regime in place for intermediaries for copyright infringements. Executive Decree No. 36,880 implements Art. 15.11.27 of the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), establishing limitations on liability for service providers for copyright only. Pursuant to the Decree, users who believe their rights have been violated should communicate with the service provider, who has 15 days to take down the content. Takedowns can also occur through a judicial order. The system has been criticised for ambiguity, as the limited intermediary liability applies to service providers who voluntarily abide by the rule.

According to Art. 34 of Law No. 6,867 on Patents, Industrial Designs and Utility Models, it is mandatory to appoint a local representative to file a patent application if the applicant has a domicile or headquarters outside of Costa Rica.

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

Costa Rica has a copyright regime under Law No. 6,683. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Arts. 67-76 list the exceptions, which include the reproduction of news that have the character of mere press information, speeches made in deliberative assemblies or public meetings, and works for educational or scientific purposes, among others.

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

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

Law No. 7,975 and its Regulation (No. 34927-J-COMEX-S-MAG) provide a framework for effective protection of trade secrets.

There is an obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in the country to deliver telecom services to end users. Moreover, passive infrastructure sharing is practised in both the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements. The "Regulation on Infrastructure Sharing for the Support of Public Telecommunication Networks" regulates the sharing of infrastructure for public telecommunications networks in Costa Rica.

In accordance with the General Law on Public Procurement, national suppliers are granted preferential treatment in government procurement. Art. 23 of this law affords special preferences to local SMEs. In order to promote regional development, the administration shall award a score of up to 10% to SMEs from certain regions of the country that the administration aims to develop and which mainly employ people from that region. Should the administration deviate from this, it must provide a rationale in the form of a reasoned act signed by the responsible official. Further details regarding the participation of SMEs can be found in Arts. 72-79 of the Regulations to the General Law on Public Procurement.
Additionally, Art. 14 of the Special Regulation for the Promotion of SMEs in the Purchase of Goods and Services of the Administration stipulates that in an administrative contracting process where the bidders of goods or services have equal or comparable conditions in terms of quality, supply and price, preference to SMEs of national production is established as a tie-breaking mechanism for the award of the bid.

Art. 12 of Law No. 7017-A stipulates that in any government procurement operation, preference must be given to domestic products when the quality is equivalent, supplies are adequate, and the price is equal to or lower than that of the imported product. Further details regarding this article can be found in Regulation No. 32448.

It has been reported that there is a lack of transparency in public procurement. Furthermore, foreign companies are required to translate tender documents from Spanish into English and assist in preparing bid offers in Spanish. Additionally, there is a significant advantage in having a strong local partner or representative.