Federal · Title 48 — Territories and Insular Possessions

48 U.S.C. § 1405q: Laws continued in force until modified; patent, trade mark, and copyright laws extended to Virgin Islands; jurisdiction of district court

Civil

What this law says, in plain English

This statute continues existing U.S. and Virgin Islands laws in force, grants local legislative bodies power to amend or repeal laws, and extends U.S. patent, trademark, and copyright laws to the Virgin Islands with district court jurisdiction.

Read the full statutory text

The laws of the United States applicable to the Virgin Islands on June 22, 1936 , and all local laws and ordinances in force on such date in the Virgin Islands, not inconsistent with this subchapter, shall continue in force and effect: Provided , That the Municipal Council of Saint Croix and the Municipal Council of Saint Thomas and Saint John, and the legislative assembly, shall have power when not inconsistent with this subchapter and within their respective jurisdictions, to amend, alter, modify, or repeal any law of the United States of local application only, or any ordinance, public or private, civil or criminal, continued in force and effect by this subchapter, except as herein otherwise provided, and to enact new laws and ordinances not inconsistent with this subchapter and not inconsistent with the laws of the United States hereafter made applicable to the Virgin Islands or any part thereof, subject to the power of the Congress to annul the same. The laws of the United States relating to patents, trade marks, and copyrights, and to the enforcement of rights arising thereunder, shall have the same force and effect in the Virgin Islands as in the continental United States, and the District Court of the Virgin Islands shall have the same jurisdiction in causes arising under such laws as is exercised by United States district courts.

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