Santa & Cole files lawsuit against Qatar’s Ashghal
Spanish lighting firm claims Public Works Authority had copied street lighting devised for Barcelona
Spanish lighting firm Santa & Cole has filed a lawsuit alleging Qatar’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) had copied street lighting devised for Barcelona by designer Beth Galí in 1996.
The case goes back to April 2005, when Ashghal requested the ‘Latina’ street-lamp from Santa & Cole to be an installed for entire lighting project for Al Waab Street for the 14th Asian Games taking place in Doha in 2006.
However, Santa & Cole claims Ashghal had requested a local company to make nearly 1,000 copies of the street-lamp in 2006. Attempts to resolve the dispute amicably with the Qatari authorities have been made over the past six years, but the matter has now been referred to the Courts of Barcelona and made public, Galí said.
She added that she had “full confidence in the Spanish legal system to resolve a blatant case of large-scale forgery.”
