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Title 48, Territories and Insular PossessionsRelease 119-102

§1405q Laws Continued in Force Until Modified; Patent, Trade Mark, and Copyright Laws Extended to Virgin Islands; Jurisdiction of District Court

Title 48 › CHAPTER 7 — VIRGIN ISLANDS › SUBCHAPTER II — CIVIL GOVERNMENT › § 1405q

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Laws and local rules that were in effect in the Virgin Islands on June 22, 1936 stay in effect unless they conflict with this subchapter. The Municipal Council of Saint Croix, the Municipal Council of Saint Thomas and Saint John, and the territorial legislature can change or repeal local laws and ordinances in their areas, but Congress can cancel those changes. U.S. patent, trademark, and copyright laws apply in the Virgin Islands the same as in the continental United States, and the District Court of the Virgin Islands has the same power to hear and decide those cases as U.S. district courts.

Full Legal Text

Title 48, §1405q

Territories and Insular Possessions, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

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.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The laws of the United States relating to patents, trade marks, and copyrights, referred to in text, are classified generally to Title 35, Patents, chapter 22 (§ 1051 et seq.) of Title 15, Commerce and Trade, and Title 17, Copyrights.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

48 U.S.C. § 1405q

Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102