The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has denied any infringement of intellectual property rights, as claimed by an artist, in the design of a plant maze for the 5/6 Park Project. It was recently announced that the main works of the 5/6 Park Project in Onaiza have been completed, coinciding with the third anniversary of resilience in the face of the blockade against Qatar. The remaining 20% of the works are scheduled to be accomplished by the end of the year.
One of the unique features of the 5/6 Park is a plant maze spread across 6,500sqm. Yesterday, responding to the claims of artist Abdulhameed al-Siddiqi on the infringement of intellectual property rights in the design of the maze, Ashghal said: “The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ welcomes working with artists and asserts on existing prior and permanent co-operation with local artists and residents, because we consider the success of Qatari artists as Ashghal’s success.”
“As for the claims of Mr. Abdulhameed al-Siddiqi that there is an infringement of intellectual property rights, this argument is not true because the Public Works Authority has designed a large plant maze in the form of map of the State of Qatar to be centred in the heart of the park. Its lines, exits and entrances have been designed in line with other parks and surrounding landmarks and views. The design also follows the international standards for corridors, which distinguishes this work focusing on the locations of major cities on the map and lighting them in a way that highlights their locations,” Ashghal said in a statement.
“This architectural engineering work was executed by the design team managed by Eng Hessa al-Kaabi of Ashghal, since the beginning of the project. The idea of maze was not used or displayed by any party or artist at the time, and according to the Copyright Law No 7 of 2002 Article 4, paragraph 3, mathematical concepts may not be monopolised, and only the idea emanating from them can be protected. Thus, anyone may invent the maze in the form that fits their ideas,” it stressed.
The statement continued, “As for the map of the State of Qatar, the map is the property of Qatar, and Ashghal is a governmental entity responsible for building infrastructure projects in Qatar. Therefore, Ashghal’s implementation of the design of plant maze in the form of Qatar’s map is not considered an infringement on the rights of anyone. 
“The idea of plant mazes is part of public parks everywhere and we have just added the Qatari touches by designing the maze in the form of map of the State of Qatar with a focus on the main cities to become a distinguished work, representing the slogan of Ashghal - ‘Qatar deserves the best’.”
Ashghal clarified that the work of al-Siddiqi is an artistic image in the form of a fingerprint shaped in the map embedding the speech of stability of His Highness the Amir of Qatar. “However, the artwork is completely different from the engineering work of maze executed by Ashghal,” it said. 
“Whereas the idea of the fingerprint is a globally practised idea. The connection of fingerprint with the map of Qatar appeared back in 2016, before Mr Abdulhameed al-Siddiqi claimed (the) work, where the logo in the form of a fingerprint-shaped map of Qatar had won through a competition conducted by the Qatar Green Buildings Council. This was published and used in Qatar in 2016 during the Sustainability Week, well before the idea of Mr Abdulhameed al-Siddiqi that was registered in 2018,” the statement concluded. 
The authority also reiterated through a tweet that “the plant maze design by Ashghal is unlike Mr al-Siddiqi’s artwork”.