[Ip-health] Deciphering consultant speak: Romulus, a case study

[Malini Aisola]

http://www.keionline.org/blogs/2009/01/29/deciphering-consultant-speak-romu=
lus-a-case-study/

Deciphering consultant speak: Romulus, a case study
by Thiru Balasubramaniam


Romulus

Although the founding of Rome is a mystery, the myths of its origin hold
that Romulus and Remus, the sons of Mars and Rhea Silvia, abandoned by
their parents on the banks of the river Tiber, were suckled by a
she-wolf Lupa. Upon reaching adulthood, Romulus and Remus vied for
control of Rome. According to Wkipedia,

[o]nce Romulus and Remus arrived at the Palatine Hill, the two argued
over where the exact position of the city should be. Romulus was set on
building the city upon the Palatine, but Remus wanted to build the city
on the strategic and easily fortified Aventine Hill=E2=80=A6 They agreed to
settle their argument by testing their abilities as augurs and by the
will of the deities. Each took a seat on the ground apart from one
another, and, according to Plutarch, Remus saw six vultures (which were
considered to be sacred to Mars, their father), while Romulus saw
twelve.[7]


Enraged by Romulus=E2=80=99s victory, Remus first claimed he should have wo=
n
since he had seen his six vultures first, and when Romulus began digging
a trench where his city=E2=80=99s boundary was to run, he ridiculed and
obstructed the work. Eventually, Remus leapt across the trench which
implied that the city fortifications would be easily breached and was
killed.

The Company

In case readers are hard pressed in finding a direct link between
Romulus, the Remus, a she-wolf and eighteen vultures with questions of
innovation + access, access to knowledge, trade policy, patents and
copyright, the answer lays in this enigmatic website, =E2=80=9CRomulus: Glo=
bal
Issues Management=E2=80=9C. At first glance, the website captivates the rea=
der
with photos of crop circles, Petronas Tower window cleaners, Petra, a
zebra/horse hybrid, water cannons and a martial arts display.

Apparently Romulus Global Issue Management was founded in 2007. The
company website=E2=80=99s elegant prose provides clarification about what i=
t
does:

Romulus consultants are experts in international public policy and have
decades of experience resolving market access barriers around the world.
By developing and managing the implementation of effective international
business, government relations and public communications strategies,
they help top executives at leading com=C2=ADpanies, associations and
governments around the world navigate and succeed in an increasingly
complex global business environment.

        In the United States, Romulus consultants maintain powerful
relationships with decision-makers and opinion leaders on trade,
investment, innovation and competition issues. Around the world, our
consultants have relationships with senior policymakers and local
execution firms in more than 80 countries on six continents. In both the
U.S. and abroad, Romulus consultants can help you deliver a targeted
message to a specific individual or manage a campaign to broadly improve
the public and political landscape for your issue.

        Primarily, our work incorporates issue monitoring and
intelligence, government relations, public relations and the development
of coalitions, content and data to validate client positions. For our
clients, from trade associations to private equity funds to start-ups to
large multinationals, we are engaged to manage both periods of crisis or
transition and long-term public policy campaigns.


The Team

Also of interest is the Romulus team. Below are some profiles taken from
the Romulus website.

Victoria Espinel


        <SNIP>

        Professor Espinel of George Mason University School of Law
serves as Senior Counselor for International IP and Innovation at
Romulus. Ms. Espinel formerly served as Assistant United States Trade
Representative for Intellectual Property and Innovation at USTR in the
Executive Office of the President.

        <SNIP>

        While at USTR, Ms Espinel oversaw intellectual property and
innovation policy negotiations with China, Russia, Brazil and India, in
over a dozen free trade agreements and at the WTO; was principally
involved in WTO litigation against the EC and China; chaired the
US-India trade group on intellectual property; coordinated US trade
policy on pharmaceutical issues; and trade policy on the intersection
between intellectual property, competition rules and standards; and was
a principal creator of the STOP initiative.

        Albert Tramposch


        Mr. Tramposch is former Director of Industrial Property Law at
the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, where he
oversaw negotiation of international treaties and instruments on patents
and trademarks, served as liaison to the World Trade Organization TRIPS
Council, the European Patent Office and national governments, advised
developing countries on implementation of treaties and modernization of
their national laws, and initiated WIPO involvement with Internet domain
name dispute resolution. In addition to his work at WIPO, Albert has
practiced IP law in the United States and internationally, and taught at
several US law schools, including as Director of intellectual property
programs at two of those schools, and served as a member of the USPTO
Trademark Policy Advisory Committee. Recently, he advised the Government
of Slovenia during their Presidency of the European Union, on matters
relating to intellectual property and public health, including access to
essential medicines. In that capacity, he was a key negotiator of the
World Health Organization Global Strategy on Public Health and IP,
adopted in May 2008. Mr. Tramposch is a registered US patent attorney
and a joint citizen of the US and Slovenia.



In addition to his career at WIPO and his role as adviser to the
Slovenian government during the IGWG negotiations, Mr. Tramposch served
as an Intellectual Property Expert to the Czech Ministry of Foreign
Affairs at the recently concluded 124th session of the WHO Executive
Board. The Czech Republic currently holds the Presidency of the European
Union.

Monitoring and Intelligence

Even more enlightening is the Romulus Case Study II: Mitigating Business
Risks and Containing Threats.

Challenge

        A large international conference threatened to provide a
powerful platform for protesters from around the world to showcase and
promote regulatory actions a particular country had taken against a
client=E2=80=99s products. The protesters were circulating a petition in su=
pport
of the country=E2=80=99s actions and were seeking tens of thousands of
signatures from prominent citizens worldwide. Several other countries
were weighing similar actions, and the event and petition risked tipping
the scales unless isolated alternative voices were bolstered and
mobilized to balance the debate.

        Strategy and Execution
        Ahead of the conference, Romulus consultants launched a global
government relations and strategic communications campaign designed to
demonstrate broad and united opposition to the country=E2=80=99s actions an=
d
underscore the risks of such actions to other nations. The campaign
resulted in numerous letters and statements critical of the country by
top government and NGO leaders in other nations, opinion articles and
press reports in leading publications around the world highlighting harm
done to the country=E2=80=99s international reputation and to its own peopl=
e,
and legislative and other moves against the country in key capitals.
Leveraging their extensive network of global media contacts and proven
relationships with advisors in more than 30 countries, Romulus
consultants provided on the ground intelligence to the client throughout
the conference and ensured reporters covering the event were fully
briefed on the other side of the story.

        Results
        Conference protestors generated no meaningful press coverage and
secured less than a thousand petition signatures in support of the
country=E2=80=99s actions. No other country took similar action against the
client=E2=80=99s products


If the founding myth of Rome augurs true, Remus, Sabines, governments,
public interest groups and the press beware of Romulus.




--
Malini Aisola
Knowledge Ecology International
1621 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington DC 20009
Tel: +1.202.332.2670 Fax: +1.202.332.2673