UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): January 15, 2019

Appliance Recycling Centers of America, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (952) 930-9000

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§ 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§ 240.12b 2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company o

If any emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

On January 15, 2019, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent (No. 14/724,039) titled “Locator Device with Low Power Consumption” to GeoTraq, Inc. (“GeoTraq”), a subsidiary of Appliance Recycling Centers of America, Inc., the registrant. The patent provides GeoTraq with intellectual property rights to significantly increase the battery life of devices containing GeoTraq’s modules by remotely controlling scheduled wakeup intervals to reduce power consumption. In addition, the intellectual property allows GeoTraq to provide accurate location information directly from its module using GPS technology.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.