The Grand Orient of the United States (formerly known as The United Grand Lodge of America) is a self-styled Grand Lodge, considered clandestine by mainstream Grand Lodges in North America. The organization appears to have been started by a group of disenfranchised and or expelled Masons from a variety of southern US jurisdictions.
In the United States, there is no national governing body for mainstream Freemasonry – each state has its own grand lodge.
In 2008 the group claimed to have recieved a patent from the Grand Orient of France, authorising them to perform Masonic Work in North America.
– Source: MasonicDictionary.com