On September 28, 2026, the Federal Register published the notice instituting Investigation No. 337-TA-1524, Certain Powered Rocker-Recliner and Glider-Recliner Mechanisms and Seating Units Containing Same, at 91 Fed. Reg. 61249. The notice says the Commission ordered institution on September 22, 2026, and it was issued September 23, 2026. The notice cites 19 CFR 210.10(b)(1) for the plain-language scope. That subsection also provides that an investigation is instituted by publication of a notice in the Federal Register. The institution date on this page is the September 28 publication date.

Complainants and respondents

The notice names the complainants as Ultra-Mek, Incorporated, 487 Bombay Road, Denton, North Carolina 27239; Leggett & Platt, Incorporated, 1 Leggett Rd, Carthage, MO 64836; and L&P Property Management Company, 1 Leggett Rd, Carthage, MO 64836. A complaint was filed August 21, 2026, with supplemental letters on September 9 and September 10, 2026. The complainants request a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders.

  • Jiangsu Carya Smart Home Hardware Co., Ltd., No. 2 Jinchuan Rd., Industry Zone, Daqiao Town, Jiangdu District, Yangzhou Province, China.
  • Living Style Group Ltd., 11/F, Lifung Tower, 888 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
  • True Innovations & Design (USA) LLC, 2052 Alton Pkwy, Irvine, CA 92606-4905, United States.
  • Living Style (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., 3 Kallang Junction #05-02, Singapore, 339265, Singapore.
  • Living Style (Vietnam) Ltd., 1st & 2nd Floor River Garden 170 Nguyen, Van Huong Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam 71300-0.
  • Henglin Home Furnishings Co., Ltd., No. 378 and 380 Jiaxi Rd., Dipu Street, Huzhou, Zhejiang, 313300, China.
  • Nanjing Hengning Home Furnishings Co., Ltd., Room 206, Building B, Shimao Chengpin, Yuhutai District, Nanjing, China.
  • Zhejiang Hengjian Home Furnishing Co., Ltd., North Building 31 8 Baishi Lane, Gongshu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Hangzhou, China.
  • Colamy, Inc., 10985 Oleander Avenue, Fontana, CA 92337.
  • Aurora Maison, Inc., 6275 Joyce Drive, Arvada, CO 80403.
  • Aerisnexus Innovations, Inc., 2220 NW 36th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73112.

The Office of Unfair Import Investigations will not participate as a party. The Chief Administrative Law Judge is to designate the presiding judge. Responses are due within 20 days after service of the complaint and the notice unless good cause is shown for more time.

The notice also says the Commission is interested in a thorough record on domestic industry, to facilitate a holistic review of all relevant considerations. It says the presiding administrative law judge may wish to consider what information is needed on the complainants' domestic industry allegations under section 337(a)(3)(A), (B), and (C), for an industry that exists or is in the process of being established, including the extent to which those allegations rely on expenditures by third parties and the extent to which any entity makes expenditures outside the United States related to the domestic industry articles.

Instituted claims

The notice institutes the investigation on claims 1-7 and 15-18 of U.S. Patent 8,398,165; claims 1-7 and 15-18 of U.S. Patent 8,398,168; claims 1-4 and 6-9 of U.S. Patent 8,016,348; and claims 1-7 and 11-14 of U.S. Patent 8,297,693. The plain-language scope, which defines the investigation, is powered glider-recliner mechanisms, powered rocker-recliner mechanisms, and finished seating units incorporating those mechanisms.

The descriptions below restate instituted claim text read for this page. They are not findings that any respondent practices a claim.

  • U.S. Patent 8,398,165, Powered rocker recliner linkage mechanism, issued March 19, 2013. Issued claim 1 recites a seating unit with a seat, a backrest, and at least one foot-support ottoman, adapted to move among a closed position, an extended position, and a reclined position. It recites a pair of base plates, a pair of rocker mechanisms, seat-mounting plates that carry the seat, and generally mirror-image linkage mechanisms that include a footrest assembly. The claim continues after that footrest assembly.
  • U.S. Patent 8,398,168, Powered glider recliner linkage mechanism, issued March 19, 2013. Issued claim 1 recites a seating unit with a chassis, a seat, a backrest, and at least one foot-support ottoman, with glide brackets mounted to the chassis, seat-mounting plates that carry the seat, and generally mirror-image linkage mechanisms that include a footrest assembly. The claim continues after that footrest assembly.
  • U.S. Patent 8,016,348, Reciprocating seating unit with power actuator, issued September 13, 2011. Issued claim 1 recites a seating unit with a base, a seat, a backrest, and an extendable ottoman, a reclining mechanism of pivotally interconnected links, a reciprocating mechanism, and a power actuating unit attached to the reclining mechanism and configured to move the unit among an upright position, an intermediate TV position, and a fully reclined position. The claim continues after those positions.
  • U.S. Patent 8,297,693, Reciprocating seating unit with power actuator, issued October 30, 2012. Issued claim 1 uses that same seating-unit structure and, where the '348 patent recites a power actuating unit, recites a linear actuating unit attached to the reclining mechanism and configured to move the unit among those same three positions. The claim continues after those positions.

Assignment records and other proceedings

Assignment Center shows Gregory M. Lawson assigned the '165 patent to L & P Property Management Company, executed December 20, 2010, and recorded December 29, 2010, at reel/frame 25555/0921, and assigned the '168 patent to the same company, executed August 23, 2010, and recorded August 27, 2010, at reel/frame 24902/0026. D. Stephen Hoffman and Marcus L. Murphy assigned the '348 patent to Ultra-Mek, Inc., executed August 28, 2009, and recorded September 1, 2009, at reel/frame 23176/0170, and assigned the '693 patent to Ultra-Mek, Inc., executed August 28, 2009, and recorded January 11, 2016, at reel/frame 37452/0240. The recorded assignees are L&P Property Management Company and Ultra-Mek, Incorporated, both named complainants. Google Patents' legal events for the four patents do not list an inter partes review or a reexamination. The '348 patent listing includes a certificate of correction dated December 13, 2011, which this page did not review.

Google Patents' litigation listings for the '348 and '693 patents identify two earlier Middle District of North Carolina cases: Ultra-Mek, Inc. v. Man Wah (USA), Inc., No. 1:16-cv-00041, filed January 15, 2016, and terminated March 17, 2017, and Ultra-Mek, Inc. v. United Furniture Industries, Inc., No. 1:18-cv-00281, filed April 10, 2018. This page did not review the filings in those cases. The '165 and '168 listings did not identify a district case, and this page did not locate a district complaint by these complainants from the past 12 months.

What to watch next

Watch respondent answers after service, the administrative law judge assignment and schedule, and any district complaint on these patents that is later available for review.