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

submitted 90 years ago by ch. 699 to r/title-48-TERRITORIES-AND-INSULAR-POSSESSIONS · 226 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

United States laws and local laws in force in the Virgin Islands on June 22, 1936, generally continue, subject to this subchapter. Local governing bodies may change certain local laws and ordinances, Congress may annul those changes, and federal intellectual-property laws apply with federal-style district-court jurisdiction.

The United States laws that applied to the Virgin Islands on June 22, 1936, and the local laws and ordinances then in force that do not conflict with this subchapter, continue in force. The Municipal Council of Saint Croix, the Municipal Council of Saint Thomas and Saint John, and the legislative assembly may, within their jurisdictions and when consistent with this subchapter, amend, alter, modify, or repeal a United States law that applies only locally, or any continued civil or criminal ordinance, public or private. They may also enact new laws and ordinances that are consistent with this subchapter and with United States laws later made applicable to the Virgin Islands or part of it. Congress may annul those local changes. These powers do not apply where this subchapter says otherwise. United States patent, trademark, and copyright laws, and laws enforcing rights under them, have the same force and effect in the Virgin Islands as in the continental United States. The District Court of the Virgin Islands has the same jurisdiction over cases arising under those laws as United States district courts.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

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.

Source credit: (June 22, 1936, ch. 699, § 18, 49 Stat. 1811.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1936Enacted · Act of June 22, 1936, ch. 699 · 49 Stat. 1811

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 699 on 1936-06-22.

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