On October 28, 2003, Mason McMullin, Robert Bell, and Mark See obtained U,S, Patent No. 6,637,447 on the BEERBRELLA:

This was not the first attempt to shade a beverage. U.S. Patent No. 5,058,757 is on a Beverage Insulator with Retractable Shader:

U.S. Patent No. 5,115,939 protects a Insulated Beverage Container that features an umbrella:

U.S. Patent No. 5,186,196 protects a Beverage Shader with a pivoting umbrella: