It is reported that the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the face of extensive counterfeiting and piracy remains weak, including in the online sphere. Despite some increases in enforcement activity, Ecuador is understood to require additional measures to address persistent concerns regarding online piracy. For example, although the National Assembly amended Ecuador’s Penal Code in 2023 and created a regulatory framework enabling undercover agents to investigate digital conduct, the implementing regulations necessary to give effect to these reforms have not yet been approved. Furthermore, Ecuador currently has only one specialised cybercrime prosecutor. The country has also been encouraged to ensure that all government ministries make use of licensed software.

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

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

The Organic Code on the Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation, together with the Organic Law on Regulation Against Unfair Competition, establishes a robust framework for the effective protection of trade secrets. The protection of commercial secrets is also recognised in Andean Community Decision No. 486.

Art. 37 of the Organic Law on the National System of Public Procurement provides that the participation of foreign consultants in public procurement procedures, whether natural or legal persons, is limited to services, fields, activities, or areas in which there is, either partially or wholly, no domestic technical capacity or experience, as certified by the National Public Procurement Service, which must issue a public notice inviting expressions of interest from national suppliers. Where, within eight days, no domestic providers express interest, or those that do fail to meet the required technical capacity or experience, the contracting authority may authorise the participation of foreign consultancy service providers. Art. 39 further provides that foreign legal entities must be domiciled in Ecuador in order to execute public contracts, and that foreign companies registered as consultants in the Unified Registry of Suppliers (RUP) may not engage in any activity other than consultancy services within the scope of their registration; in all cases, preference is given to the engagement of Ecuadorian professionals.

Ministerial Agreement No. 141 requires public entities to procure telecommunications services exclusively from State‑owned providers. Art. 1 requires that public‑sector bodies contract services such as fixed telephony, advanced mobile services, data links, internet services, and other related telecommunications services through public telecommunications enterprises. Art. 2 permits procurement from private providers only where public telecommunications enterprises are unable, for duly justified technical reasons, to meet the required specifications. Art. 3 extends these obligations to the acquisition of emerging digital technologies, including big data, the Internet of Things, blockchain, cloud computing, hosting, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and comparable technologies. It is reported that, pursuant to this framework, customers seeking to contract cloud service providers that rely on data centres located outside Ecuador must do so through the National Telecommunications Corporation (CNT), a State‑owned entity that acts as the mandated local partner.

Art. 25.2 of the Organic Law on the National System of Public Procurement stipulates that, for the acquisition of goods and services not classified as of Ecuadorian origin under the relevant regulations, prior verification of the absence of Ecuadorian-origin offers shall be required. Such verification must be carried out through expeditious mechanisms that do not hinder the contracting process.

Art. 148 of the Organic Code on the Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation establishes a mandatory hierarchy for software procurement in the public sector, requiring contracting entities to prioritise: (1) open‑source software that includes source‑code development, parametrisation or implementation services with a significant component of Ecuadorian added value; (2) software in any other modality that incorporates services with a majority Ecuadorian added‑value component; (3) open‑source software that does not include a majority component of Ecuadorian added‑value services; (4) international software supplied through national providers; and (5) international software supplied through foreign providers. Where a public body is unable to acquire or develop open‑source software with services that include a significant component of Ecuadorian added value, it must justify the procurement of alternative technologies before the electronic government regulatory authority designated by the President of the Republic. Furthermore, when non‑free technologies are procured, the acquiring institution must submit, within 180 days, a feasibility plan for migration to free digital technologies; if migration is feasible, implementation must occur within a maximum period of five years, and if not, the competent authority must undertake periodic evaluations in accordance with applicable regulations. Decree No. 1073 provides further details concerning this prescribed order of preference in governmental software procurement.

Art. 25.1 of the Organic Law on National System of Public Procurement stipulates that the tender documents shall include evaluation criteria designed to encourage and promote local and national participation, as well as women’s entrepreneurship in all its diversity, by establishing a margin of preference for providers of works, goods and services, including consultancy services, of local and national origin. Art. 25.2 also provides that preference shall be granted to suppliers of goods, works, or services that incorporate a greater proportion of Ecuadorian origin, as well as to actors within the popular and solidarity economy, artisans, small producers, microenterprises, small enterprises, family farming units, and entrepreneurial initiatives led by women in all their diversity. Such preference shall be implemented through mechanisms including, but not limited to, proportionate preference margins, market reservation in the context of inclusive fairs, advance payments, and preferential subcontracting. The preferential measures shall follow this order of precedence: first, organisations of the popular and solidarity economy, artisans, small producers, microenterprises, small enterprises, family farming units, and women-led entrepreneurial initiatives; and second, medium-sized enterprises.
In addition, Art. 25.4 provides that priority shall be given to nationally produced goods, works and services, particularly those originating from the popular and solidarity-based economy and from micro, small and medium productive units, in all public procurement procedures, with preferential margins but without market reservations.

It has long been reported that government procurement in Ecuador can be cumbersome and insufficiently transparent, resulting in repeated cancellations, additional bidding costs, and a risk of manipulation by contracting authorities. More recent reports indicate that government procurement remains non-transparent and vulnerable to corruption. Public institutions are also reported to delay payments without explanation, even when goods and services have been satisfactorily delivered and supported by appropriate work orders and receipts. The lack of transparency creates a risk that procuring entities may administer procurement procedures in a manner that favours a preferred supplier.

Ecuador is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). However, the country has been an observer of the WTO GPA since 2019.

According to Art. 98 of the Organic Law on Communications, all the advertising that is disseminated in Ecuadorian territory through the media must be produced in Ecuadorian territory by Ecuadorian natural persons or foreigners residing in Ecuador or produced abroad by Ecuadorian persons residing abroad or foreign legal entities whose ownership of the majority of the share package corresponds to Ecuadorians and whose payroll for its realisation and production is made up of at least 80% of Ecuadorian nationals. In addition, the importation of advertising pieces produced outside the country by foreign companies is prohibited, with the exception of what is established regarding foreign legal entities, with a majority of shares owned by Ecuadorians. According to the same article, advertising production is understood as television and movie commercials, radio spots, photographs for static advertising, or any other audiovisual piece used for advertising purposes.

Art. 6 of the Organic Law on Communication provides that national mass media outlets may not have any part of their shareholding owned, whether directly or indirectly, by foreign organisations or companies domiciled outside the Ecuadorian State, nor by foreign nationals, except for those foreign nationals who lawfully reside within Ecuador. Under Art. 5, mass media outlets comprise public, private, and community organisations, as well as holders of radio and television frequency concessions, which engage in the mass dissemination of communicational content through print media, radio, television, and subscription-based audio or video services, including content generated or reproduced online. Art. 6 further establishes that mass media outlets acquire national status when their coverage, publication, or circulation, as applicable, reaches 30% or more of the country’s population.
However, Art. 67 of the General Regulations to the Organic Law on Communication establishes an exception, under which foreign companies or nationals of countries that have entered into trade agreements with Ecuador are exempt from the aforementioned restriction.

Ecuador is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).