WIPO’s newest Intellectual Property Youth Ambassador is 22-year-old Oxana Zaporoniuc from the Republic of Moldova. She created an innovative packaging design for fragile glass bottles, which minimizes the use of cardboard and other materials for ecological purposes.
Her innovative design ensures the protection of the product with a smart lock-in function and avoids additional graphic design and material for the packaging as consumers can see the glass container without opening the package. In 2023, Oxana registered her industrial design with the State Agency on Intellectual Property of the Republic of Moldova (AGEPI) as she hopes to license it for commercial use.
In recognition of her creative and innovative work, Oxana has been awarded with the WIPO IP Youth Ambassadorship for the Republic of Moldova in 2024. She is WIPO’s fifteenth IP Youth Ambassador.
Cardboard creations
In addition to the WIPO IP Youth Ambassadorship, Oxana’s design won her the Best Newcomer Award at the Pro Carton Young Designers Award, and it all started from a university assignment for developing sustainable packaging solutions for the honey industry. She is currently in her last year at the Technical University of Moldova where she is studying industrial design.
Intellectual property (IP) is covered in several mandatory classes for engineering students at the Technical University of Moldova, so Oxana was aware of the importance of protecting her innovation, but she didn’t know much about the practical aspects of doing so. In 2023, her teacher Mr. Valeriu Podborschii, guided her throughout the process of registering her industrial design with AGEPI, which for full-time students in the Republic of Moldova, is a process that does not incur fees. Inspired by her success, Oxana’s classmates are also applying to protect their industrial designs and she is motivated to launch other creative projects which she hopes to protect in the future.
After protecting my intellectual property (IP), I feel more confident and safer as an innovative creator, and that’s worth it. The process of registering my industrial design turned out to be easier than what I thought it would be. Many novice university students don’t know what IP is, but it is so important for them to learn about it, and it is so helpful to apply for protection.
Oxana Zaporoniuc, Innovative Designer and WIPO IP Youth Ambassador from the Republic of Moldova
Ultimately, Oxana dreams of becoming a professional packaging designer and setting up a laboratory in the Republic of Moldova for creators and innovators to use to develop new designs and solutions that can improve people’s lives. Oxana loves using her hands to produce creative pieces, and her latest hobby is curating paper flower bouquets, which also feeds off her passion for architecture and nature.
WIPO’s IP Youth Ambassador for the Republic of Moldova
As a WIPO IP Youth Ambassador, Oxana will be part of a pioneering network of past and future candidates, to communicate and promote the importance of IP to other young innovators and creators in her region.
The WIPO IP Youth Ambassadors initiative is part of the IP4Youth&Teachers Program. The service was designed and launched by the WIPO Academy in 2018. Its primary purpose is to engage young people involved in the creative process to leverage IP for the benefit of their communities and jointly, with national authorities, promote the use of IP among young people.
Oxana will also benefit from tailored IP education, in addition to public speaking and advocacy courses facilitated by the IP4Youth&Teachers service.
