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

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

The Intellectual Property Law provides a framework for the effective protection of trade secrets. Title IV of the Intellectual Property Law (Art. 177 and following) regulates the protection of industrial or commercial secrets and evidence data.

It is reported that there is no obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in El Salvador to deliver telecom services to end users. However, it is practised in both the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements.

El Salvador does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, it is reported that there has been an obligation of accounting separation since 1998. According to Art. 25 of the Telecommunications Law Regulations, in order to ensure the allocation of differentiated costs for the establishment of the maximum values of basic interconnection charges and basic rates for fixed and mobile telephony, operators must keep separate accounts.

El Salvador is a signatory of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) of 1996, but is not a signatory of its 2015 expansion (ITA II).

Arts. 31-33 of the Public Procurement Act provide special rules for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Art. 31 stipulates that priority in the evaluation of bids may be given to goods manufactured and/or produced in the country. Art. 32 establishes that public administration entities and municipalities should seek to procure or contract with national MSMEs to the extent that they represent at least 25% of their annual budget for procurement and contracting of goods and services, provided that they guarantee the quality of the goods and services in question. Procurement should be sourced from national, regional and local SMEs in the area where the respective procurement and contracting takes place. Furthermore, at least 10% of the budget for procurement and contracting of goods and services should be procured or contracted from MSMEs that are owned, majority-owned or legally represented by women. Finally, Art. 33 establishes that, in the event of two or more evaluated bids whose price and qualification are equal based on the evaluation criteria and other conditions required in the application documents, preference shall be given to the bid submitted by a micro or small enterprise.
The Law on Acquisitions and Contracting of the Public Administration repealed the Law on Acquisitions and Contracting of the Public Administration, which contained similar requirements to those mentioned above in Arts. 39-A and 39-C.

It is reported that foreign companies have expressed concerns about Salvadoran Government agencies not providing sufficient advance notice to foster wide participation in bidding procedures, particularly complex infrastructure works or public-private partnership projects.

It is reported that El Salvador has been operating under a State of Emergency since March 2022. Initially intended to be in effect for 30 days, the State of Emergency has been extended every month since April 2022. One consequence of the State of Emergency is that it allows the Executive branch to enter negotiations and make direct purchases of goods and services without adhering to the Public Procurement Law. Legal experts and businesses have expressed concerns that excluding purchases from bidding procedures for as long as the State of Emergency is in place will further undermine transparency.

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

According to Art. 5 of the Investment Law, foreign investors have the same rights and obligations as Salvadoran investors and shall not be subject to unfair or discriminatory measures with respect to the establishment, administration, use, usufruct, extension, sale and liquidation of their investments.

It is reported that certain restrictions apply to micro businesses, which are defined in Art. 3 of the Law on the Promotion, Protection and Development of Micro and Small Enterprises as having 10 or fewer employees and annual sales of approximately USD 175,930 or less. Investors who start operations with 10 or fewer employees must submit plans for increasing employment to the Ministry of Economy’s National Investment Office.

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

El Salvador has a copyright regime under the Intellectual Property Law. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Art. 44 lists the exceptions, which include activities carried out in family circles without lucrative purposes, of general utility, of didactic purposes, those used for people with disabilities, for commercial demonstrations, and those with charitable purposes.