US 6,007,853 · Granted 1999-12-28

The Patent Behind Tea Bags That Hook Over Your Mug

Imagine a tea bag designed to hang directly over the edge of your cup while it steeps, letting you control exactly how strong your drink gets and how much tea you use. This patent locks down that simple but clever design—a filter that clips to your mug's rim so you can brew the perfect cup every time.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a disposable beverage infuser system with a porous filter that holds solid beverage material (like tea leaves or ground coffee) and clips or attaches to the upper edge of a beverage container. What's protected here is the specific way the filter hangs inside the liquid while remaining anchable to the container's rim, plus the ability to control steeping time and beverage strength by adjusting how long the filter stays in contact with the hot water.

Why it matters

This patent captures the mechanics of single-serving, clip-on beverage brewers—a category that competes with traditional tea bags, pour-over cones, and instant packets. By securing the filter to the container's edge rather than floating freely, the design gives users more control over steeping and prevents the filter from sinking or getting lost in the liquid. This kind of disposable, mess-free brewing system appealed to both convenience-focused consumers and beverage manufacturers looking to differentiate their products.

Real-world use

Every time someone uses a clip-on tea infuser or a pour-over-style coffee brewer that hooks onto a mug's rim, they're using geometry and attachment mechanics this patent describes.

Original USPTO abstract

This invention relates to a disposable system for making portions of a hot beverage such as coffee or tea, comprising a porous filter designed to extend within a beverage container and having an upper region which is detachably coupled to the edge of the beverage container, whereby a predetermined quantity of solid beverage material can be placed within the filter, a predetermined quantity of liquid can be poured onto the beverage material, and the resulting liquid in the beverage container can steep with the solid beverage material within the filter, so that a desired portion of a beverage of a desired strength may be produced.

Patent details

Publication number: US 6,007,853
Filing date: 1999-03-08
Grant date: 1999-12-28
Assignee: Dbf, Inc.
Inventor(s): LESSER; BRIAN J.
CPC class: A47J31/005

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