Caribbean IP Part 27: US Virgin Islands

ISO 3166 country code: VI.

The Federal trade mark law of the United States, the Lanham Act, applies to not only all 50 states but also to any territory under the jurisdiction of the United States. Therefore, US Federal registrations automatically cover the US Virgin Islands.

Nevertheless, a local registration system is also available.

The Division of Corporations and Trademarks at the Office of the Lieutenant Governor administers locally registered rights. It is necessary to support an application with a Federal registration by providing a certified copy of the same. Because US designations of Madrid Protocol registrations are given a local Registration number it is believed these could also form the basis for applications in the US Virgin Islands.

There is no separate register for design patents.

It is not too often that separate trade mark registration is required for the US Virgin Islands although it could be useful in some cases. Registration is inexpensive (incidentally, we can file directly in the US Virgin Islands) if filing is ever considered.