To mark International Women’s Day on Sunday 8th March, Dehns is pleased to shine a spotlight on the work of Mooncup Ltd. The business has played a significant role in advancing innovation, sustainability and choice within women’s health products. As a long standing client of the Dehns Trade Mark team, Mooncup illustrates how intellectual property can support sustainable innovation, protect brand value, and enable the development of solutions that empower and support women. In this interview, we speak with Mooncup’s Managing Director, Paulina Szklarek, to explore the company’s journey, the impact of its innovations, and the role IP plays in supporting a value led business.

Please could you introduce yourself and describe your role at Mooncup?

I’m Paulina, Managing Director at Mooncup. My role is to lead the business and work closely with our team to make sure we stay true to why Mooncup exists in the first place: to change period care for the better.

For us, that means holding the industry to a higher standard. We focus on creating products that are safe, science-backed and actually designed with the body and the planet in mind, while challenging the stigma and silence that still surrounds menstrual health.

Mooncup has always been about more than selling period products. We’re here to close the gender health gap and prove that better periods aren’t a luxury – they’re a basic standard people deserve.

Could you give an overview of Mooncup and the products and services you provide?

Mooncup is a pioneering period care brand that’s been challenging the status quo in menstrual health for more than 20 years.

We launched the world’s first medical-grade silicone menstrual cup in 2002 and helped bring reusable period care into the mainstream. Since then, we’ve grown into a broader range of period products including cups, period pants, pads, tampons, and liners – ensuring everyone has access to a choice of safe and sustainable period care.

Everything we make is guided by the same principle: products should work with the body, not against it. That means prioritising safety, performance and transparency about what’s actually in the products people are using in or on their bodies.

We also see education as a big part of what we do. Menstrual health is still surrounded by stigma and misinformation, so giving people clear, honest information is just as important as the products themselves.

When you speak to customers and partners (or work internally), what’s the one thing you most want people to understand about Mooncup’s mission?

The most important thing is that we exist because the status quo in period care hasn’t been good enough.

For decades the industry has relied on silence, stigma and disposable products.

We believe people deserve something better. They deserve products that are safe, sustainable and genuinely designed for their bodies. They deserve honest information. And they deserve period care that doesn’t come at the expense of the planet.

At its heart, Mooncup is about dignity and equality. Better periods shouldn’t be a privilege.

How has the brand developed since it was founded?

Back when Mooncup first launched, reusable period care was almost unheard of in the UK. In the early days, a huge part of Mooncup’s work was simply introducing people to the idea that period care could look different.

Over the past two decades that conversation has shifted dramatically. Reusable products are now widely recognised, and people are becoming much more aware of the health and environmental impact of disposable period products.

But the bigger shift has been cultural. Conversations about periods themselves are becoming more open, and people are starting to ask tougher questions about what’s actually in the products they use in or on the most intimate area of their bodies.

Mooncup has played a big role in that change, pushing for better standards, more transparency, and products that put bodies first. But there’s still a lot of work to do. The gender health gap hasn’t disappeared, and the period care aisle still has a long way to go when it comes to ingredients transparency.

That’s what continues to drive us. Our job isn’t finished until better period care is the standard, not the exception.

From your perspective inside the business, where does IP show up most and how has it helped the brand develop?

Intellectual property plays an important role in protecting the work that goes into building the brand and developing products.

For us, the Mooncup trademark is particularly important because the name has become strongly associated with menstrual cups in the UK. Protecting that identity helps ensure customers know they’re buying a trusted product.

IP also supports the innovation side of the business by protecting product development and design. When you’re investing time and expertise into creating better solutions, it’s important that work is recognised and protected.

Did you have a good understanding of IP before trade marking Mooncup?

Like many businesses, our understanding of intellectual property developed as the company grew.

In the early days the focus was simply on bringing a new product to market and building awareness. As Mooncup became more established, it became clear how important IP protection was for safeguarding the brand and the work behind it.

Working with specialists helped us understand how trademarks and other forms of protection support long-term brand growth.

From your perspective inside the business, how important has trade mark protection been in building and defending the Mooncup brand, particularly as the market for reusable period care has grown?

It’s been very important.

Being the first medical-grade silicone menstrual cup on the market gave us a real advantage. If you look at the menstrual cup category today, you’ll see that most competitors, both old and new, have followed the same standard by using medical-grade silicone.

As the market for reusable period care has grown, trademark protection helps ensure that consumers can clearly identify genuine Mooncup products and know where they’re coming from.

Ultimately it protects both the brand and the people who rely on it.

Has the public perception of the company changed over time?

Yes, quite a lot.

In the early days Mooncup was seen as quite niche. The idea of reusable period care felt unfamiliar to many people, and whilst there was a lot of curiosity, there was hesitation too.

Today, the conversation is very different. People are actively seeking out products that are better for their bodies and the environment, and there’s much more openness around talking about periods.

One of the most interesting shifts we’re seeing is generational. Mooncup has now been around for more than 20 years, so we often hear from customers who say their older sister, aunt or mum used one and introduced them to it when they started their periods. That kind of generational trust shows how far the conversation around periods has come.

Reusable period care wasn’t always mainstream. In your experience, what helped shift the conversation and build trust over time?

A few things really helped move the conversation forward.

Education has been a big one. Once people understand how reusable period care works (and the truth about what’s in mainstream period care), a lot of the uncertainty disappears.

Word of mouth has also been incredibly important. People who switch to reusable period care often talk about how much it improves their period, and that kind of real-world advocacy builds trust.

And finally, awareness around waste has grown hugely. When people realise how many disposable period products they might use in their lifetime, reusable options start to feel like a very logical alternative.

The Mooncup Impact Report mentions that “innovation is a habit” for the company. It’s great to see this type of mentality.  Are you seeing a lot of innovation / more products being developed in this sector (reusable period care)? 

The category has definitely grown since Mooncup first launched. When we introduced the first medical-grade silicone menstrual cup, reusable period care was almost unheard of. Today there are far more brands exploring reusable designs and different types of period products.

But I wouldn’t necessarily say we’re seeing a huge amount of true innovation.

In some cases, what’s being presented as innovation is really just a new way of packaging what are still largely disposable, petrochemical-based products. Changing the format doesn’t always change the impact.

True innovation in this space requires serious investment in research, materials and product design. Because period products come into very close contact with the body, safety, performance and evidence should always come before marketing claims.

There are some brilliant innovators in the sector, but the reality is that disposables are still treated as the industry standard. That means there’s still a lot of work to do to shift both the products available and the expectations people have around period care.

At Mooncup we see innovation as raising the standard. That means pushing for greater transparency around ingredients, challenging greenwashing, and continuing to develop products that genuinely work better for bodies and the planet.

Has competition increased?

When Mooncup launched there were very few brands operating in this space. Today the market is much more crowded as reusable period care has gained more attention.

In many ways, it’s a positive thing. More brands entering the space means more people are becoming curious about reusable period care. The more interest there is from consumers, the more attention the category receives.

And that’s something we’ve been working towards for more than 20 years.

At the same time, it makes transparency and trust even more important. When people choose products that come into close contact with their bodies, they deserve clear information and claims that genuinely stand up to scrutiny.

More competition shows people care about better period care. Our focus is making sure the standards keep rising with that interest.

In your role, what feedback do you hear most often about how Mooncup products impact people’s day‑to‑day lives?

One of the most common things we hear is that switching to a Mooncup genuinely changes people’s experience of their period.

Customers often tell us they feel more comfortable and more confident in their daily lives because the product works reliably and doesn’t need constant changing.

We also hear from people who feel empowered by understanding their bodies better. Using a menstrual cup can make people much more aware of their cycle and their menstrual health.

And for many people there’s also a sense of relief in knowing they’re using something reusable and lower-impact.

Mooncup also has great green credentials, with a strong focus on sustainability. Beyond products and packaging, you also donated products to organisations supporting people facing crisis and insecurity, from homelessness charities to women’s refuges and schools. Is this an important aspect of the Mooncup brand?

Yes, it’s a really important part of who we are.

Access to safe and healthy period care is still a major issue, and period poverty affects people in many different circumstances, from homelessness to financial insecurity. Supporting organisations working directly with communities is one way we can help address that and make sure better period care reaches people who might otherwise struggle to access it.

Sustainability and social impact are also built into how we run the business more broadly. Mooncup is now the UK’s highest-scoring B Corp period care brand, which reflects the standards we hold ourselves to across everything from environmental impact to transparency and governance.

For us, that certification isn’t just a badge. It’s about accountability. It means every part of the business is measured against how it supports people, communities and the planet.

Ultimately, it reflects what we’ve always believed: menstrual health is about dignity and equality. Period care shouldn’t be something people have to struggle to access, and businesses in this space have a responsibility to do better.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about Mooncup?

What continues to drive us is the belief that menstrual health deserves the same attention, research and respect as any other area of health.

For too long it’s been overlooked or treated as a taboo topic, and that’s had real consequences for the products people use and the information they receive.

Mooncup has spent more than 20 years challenging that. From launching the world’s first medical-grade silicone menstrual cup to pushing for greater transparency in the period care aisle, our goal has always been to prove that better period care is possible.

But the work isn’t finished. There’s still a gender health gap to close, more transparency needed around ingredients and environmental claims, and more progress to make when it comes to access.

At Mooncup we believe better periods shouldn’t be a privilege. They should be the standard.

A big thank you to Paulina from everyone at Dehns for being a part of this interview.