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

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

Law No. 5 of 2005 on Protection of Trade Secrets provides a framework for effective protection of trade secrets.

Section 20 of the Telecommunications Law requires service providers, upon receiving a written request from another provider, to negotiate in good faith to conclude an agreement granting access to telecommunications facilities, including offices, equipment sites, towers, poles, lines, and underground infrastructure, where necessary and reasonable to enable service provision. Complementing this, Section 9 of the Passive Civil Infrastructure Access Regulation mandates that, when deploying new passive civil infrastructure, an access provider must offer the access seeker the option of a joint-investment agreement governing the construction and shared use of such infrastructure. Under Section 1, passive civil infrastructure encompasses physical or supporting facilities deemed bottleneck facilities - those that cannot feasibly be substituted economically or technically within a reasonable timeframe or are essential to ensuring fair competition. The Regulation further defines an access provider as any entity owning, constructing, or controlling such infrastructure, and an access seeker as a licensed service provider.

Qatar’s telecommunications market is served by two operators: Ooredoo Qatar and Vodafone Qatar. As of 2024, Ooredoo Qatar dominates both the mobile and fixed-line segments and is 68% owned by Qatari government entities. Vodafone Qatar, the country’s second telecommunications provider, is also majority government-owned, with Qatari public entities, primarily the Qatar Foundation, holding approximately 91% of its shares.

It is reported that Qatar does not impose a requirement for functional separation on operators possessing significant market power (SMP) within the telecommunications sector. Nevertheless, an obligation for accounting separation has been in effect since November 2006. Art. 33 of Decree-Law No. 34 of 2006, Promulgating the Telecommunications Law (مرسوم بقانون رقم (34) لسنة 2006 بإصدار قانون الاتصالات) stipulates that the Secretariat-General can require any operator with SMP to adopt accounting separation if it determines that the implementation of accounting separation between different categories of activities and services constitutes an effective and necessary mechanism to prevent anti-competitive behaviour or to regulate tariffs and pricing.

According to Art. 9 of the Telecommunications Law, the provision of public telecommunications services or the operation of public telecommunications networks without a licence is prohibited. Two types of licences are established - Individual and Class - and the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) is responsible for administering the licensing process.
Art. 8 of the Executive By-Law (Board Resolution No. 1 of 2009) further requires the CRA to publish on its website the licensing criteria, procedures, basic terms, and expected decision timelines. In practice, the CRA fulfils these obligations through publicly available licence instruments and criteria, with eligibility requirements determined on a case-by-case basis. Nevertheless, there have been reports of potential restrictions on foreign investment. In fact, only Ooredoo and Vodafone Qatar currently hold individual licences, and these companies are both majority state-owned.

Qatar has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

Pursuant to Art. 3 of Law No. 1 of 2019 on the Regulation of Non-Qatari Capital Investment in Economic Activities, foreign investors seeking to acquire more than 49% of a company’s capital must submit an application to the competent department responsible for regulating the relevant sector.
Sections 2 and 3 of the Minister of Commerce and Industry Decision No. 44 of 2020, which issues the Executive Regulations of the Law, provide that eligible projects must fall within the list of permitted activities for non-Qatari investors. Non-Qatari investors are required to submit a detailed description of the project, a business and financial plan, and a written undertaking to assume all obligations arising from the project and to commence operations within the period specified by the competent authority, failing which the approval shall be deemed void.
In addition, Art. 7 of Law No. 1 of 2019 permits non-Qatari investors to own up to 49% of the share capital in Qatari joint-stock companies listed on the stock exchange, subject to the Ministry’s approval of the proposed ownership level in the company’s articles of association and statute. Ownership beyond this limit may be authorised by the Council of Ministers upon the recommendation of the Minister of Commerce and Industry.

According to Art. 5 of the Patent Law, only natural or legal persons - whether Qatari or non-Qatari - who are nationals of, or have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in a World Trade Organization (WTO) member state or in a country that grants reciprocal treatment to Qatar, are eligible to apply for a patent with the Patent Office and obtain the resulting rights in accordance with the provisions of the Law. Moreover, it is reported that an agent must be appointed to act on the behalf of non-resident applicants for patents.

Qatar 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).

In August 2024, following publication in the GCC Technical Secretariat’s Official Gazette (Vol. 47, 20 August 2024), the GCC Member States, included Qatar, imposed definitive anti-dumping duties for five years on imports of electrical connectors, switches, sockets and plugs for a voltage not exceeding 1,000 volts (HS 853669, 853650, 85444291, 85444221) originating in or exported from the People’s Republic of China; the duty rates range from 11.3% to 42% by exporter.

According to Art. 2 of Law No. 6 of 1987, when the quantity of national products is insufficient to fully satisfy the requirements of government agencies for a particular product, the agencies shall procure the remaining quantities from products of national origin, and only thereafter from foreign products.
For the purposes of this provision, national products refer to goods produced within the State of Qatar and recognised as national or local products under Qatari law. Products of national origin are defined as goods in which the value added through production in a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member state constitutes at least 40% of the final value upon completion of production, and where at least 51% of the ownership of the producing facility is held by GCC citizens, as certified by a certificate of origin.

According to Art. 108 bis (1) of the Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 16 of 2019, in tenders valued at less than QAR 5,000,000 (approx. USD 1.37 million), the contracting government entity may restrict participation to micro, small, or medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that are duly classified by the competent ministry.
Additionally, pursuant to the same article, in tenders valued below QAR 1,000,000 (approx. USD 275,000), national micro-sized enterprises are exempted from the requirement to provide tender and performance bonds.