ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 28 -- United States Patent no. 12,532,977, issued on Jan. 27.
"Cup with an integral infusion instrument" was invented by Ofer Elya (Haifa, Israel).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A tea cup with an integral infusion instrument, the infusion instrument comprising: a sieve filled with tea, and allowing liquid to flow through it while filtering the tea; a neck connected in its bottom side to the sieve, and terminating with knob at its top side; and a cover, wherein in a closed state, the cover covers the sieve, hindering flow of liquid between the cup and the tea within the sieve, and wherein pushing the knob causes downward motion of the neck and the sieve such that the cover...