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

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

The Law of Industrial Property provides a framework for effective protection of trade secrets. Under Art. 173 of the law, the unauthorised use of another party’s business secret, as well as any act of commercialisation, promotion, disclosure, or improper acquisition of such information, constitutes an act of unfair competition. Art. 174 defines trade secrets, while Art. 175 enumerates the acts deemed unfair in relation to business secrets. Furthermore, the Law provides both civil and criminal remedies for the protection of trade secrets (Art. 275).

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

Under Art. 1 of Decree No. 14-71, the Organic Law of the Guatemalan Telecommunications Company, the Empresa Guatemalteca de Telecomunicaciones, GUATEL (state-owned public enterprise), is established as a decentralised state entity with its own legal personality and assets. GUATEL remains in existence and provides telecommunications services, including Internet access, data links and fibre-optic connectivity.

Guatemala is a signatory of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) of 1996 and its 2015 expansion (ITA II).

It is reported that Guatemala does not mandate functional or accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market.

Under Art. 77 of the State Contracting Law, foreign companies may participate in public procurement procedures only after obtaining provisional registration in the Mercantile Registry. Pursuant to Art. 12 of Ministerial Agreement No. 563-2018, such registration requires the appointment of a legal representative. If the foreign company is awarded the contract, Art. 12(b) further requires it to demonstrate that it is duly authorised to operate in Guatemala through a registered branch.
Although provisional registration may be formally completed during the tendering process, in practice, foreign companies may face difficulties completing the procedure before the bid submission deadline. Companies established exclusively abroad may also participate by submitting their expression of interest or economic offer in physical form, provided that their country of origin is a party to a trade agreement with Guatemala that grants access to the government procurement market. In either case, foreign suppliers are accorded the same treatment as domestic suppliers.

Guatemala does not maintain a licensing regime for the provision of telecommunications services. Instead, Art. 23 of the General Telecommunications Law (Decree No. 94-96) establishes a Telecommunications Registry, administered by the Superintendence of Telecommunications (SIT), in which all commercial network operators—defined as networks offering open access to services for payment—and holders of Frequency Usufruct Titles (TUF) must register before commencing operations or exercising spectrum rights.
According to Arts. 61 and 62, any natural or legal person, domestic or foreign, may apply to the SIT for use of a specific frequency band; if there are no competing applications, the usufruct right is granted directly and recorded in the Registry, otherwise it is awarded via public auction to the highest bidder under SIT supervision. Art. 58 provides that spectrum usufruct rights are valid for 15 years and may be renewed for equal periods upon request.
Nevertheless, it is reported that practical restrictions affect the ability to provide telecommunications services or operate facilities, including limits on the number of licences and minimum capital requirements, among other conditions.

Under Art. 5(a)–(c) of the State Contracting Law and Art. 8 of its Regulations, public entities may use an exceptional direct-import procedure only where the value does not exceed the threshold for public quotation and either the goods are not produced domestically, are produced in insufficient quantities, or are not otherwise available in the domestic market through existing stocks, representatives or authorised distributors. Direct importation may also be authorised where its total landed cost is lower than the domestic-market price. The entity must document the applicable conditions, and the importation must be authorised by its superior administrative authority following a price assessment. Accordingly, direct sourcing from abroad is permitted only exceptionally, after preference has effectively been given to domestically produced goods and supplies available in the local market.

Guatemala has only partially appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

According to Art. 97 of the State Contracting Law, with regard to contracts and concessions for public services, workers employed under public procurement must preferably be Guatemalan, in the proportion established by the Labour Code. Art. 13 of the Labour Code stipulates that employers are prohibited from hiring less than 90% Guatemalan workers, except in specific cases provided by law.

According to Art. 1 of the Law for the Facilitation of non-commercial online purchases (Decree No. 208), the de minimis threshold, that is, the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties, is USD 300, above the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). This applies to purchases made by individuals under the modalities of postal shipments, express delivery or courier companies, small family shipments, and air parcel managers, who are exempt from the payment of import duties and are not subject to compliance with non-tariff requirements.