Skip to main content

Government Operations

Jump To:

Recent Reports

View More Reports

Open Recommendations

Intellectual Property: Patent Office Should Strengthen Its Efforts to Address Persistent Examination and Quality Challenges [Reissued with revisions on Sep. 30, 2025]
GAO-25-107218
Sep 30, 2025
Show
8 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Patent and Trademark Office The Director of the USPTO should identify ongoing initiatives designed to improve patent examination and quality and take steps to ensure that each initiative is following evidence-based policy-making practices to manage and assess results. For example, initiatives should include clear goals and performance measures, and data collection to support evaluation. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Patent and Trademark Office The Director of the USPTO should formalize, document, and implement an approach for creating, managing, and assessing pilot programs that incorporates leading practices for effective pilot program design. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Patent and Trademark Office The Director of the USPTO should update guidance to better ensure that supervisory quality reviews result in a valid assessment of examiner performance. This should include consideration of how office actions are selected for supervisory quality reviews and how identified errors are reflected in data. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Patent and Trademark Office The Director of the USPTO should implement policies to improve the documentation and transparency of changes made to random quality review outcomes resulting from the OPQA data integrity review process. Such policies should include requiring clear documentation of any change being made to the outcomes, the basis for the change, and the process that led to the change. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Patent and Trademark Office The Director of the USPTO should ensure that the Office of Patent Quality Assessment updates processes to have OPQA's data integrity reviews include an appropriate number of random quality reviews that found compliance. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Patent and Trademark Office The Director of the USPTO should establish an overall statutory patent quality compliance goal and communicate how that goal relates to the issuance of quality patents. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: OPM Should Take Timely Action to Mitigate Persistent Fraud Risks
GAO-25-106885
Jul 17, 2025
Show
6 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Office of Personnel Management The Director of OPM should clarify, as expeditiously as possible, which entity will serve as the dedicated entity for leading fraud risk management activities. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Office of Personnel Management The Director of OPM should document the responsibilities of its antifraud entity, as distinct from its ERM responsibilities, to include the responsibility for serving as a repository of knowledge on fraud risk and controls; managing the fraud risk-assessment process; leading or assisting with trainings and other fraud-awareness activities; and coordinating antifraud initiatives across the program. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Office of Personnel Management The Director of OPM should design and conduct a robust fraud risk assessment that will identify the inherent fraud risks facing the FEHB program. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Office of Personnel Management The Director of OPM should develop and maintain documentation of its fraud risk assessments. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Office of Personnel Management The Director of OPM should ensure that it documents the results of its assessment of inherent fraud risks facing the FEHB program on its fraud risk profile. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Office of Personnel Management The Director of OPM should involve relevant stakeholders—including OPM's OIG and health insurance carriers—by including their participation in its fraud risk assessment process. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Trans-Alaska Pipeline: Clarifying the Roles of Joint Pipeline Office Agencies Would Enhance Safety Oversight
GAO-25-107390
Jun 12, 2025
Show
2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Bureau of Land Management The Director of BLM should, in collaboration with other JPO agencies, redefine and document the intended outcomes of JPO's safety oversight activities, such as outcomes aiming to inform the public of JPO's oversight efforts. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Bureau of Land Management The Director of BLM should, in collaboration with other JPO agencies, clarify and document JPO agencies' roles and responsibilities, including identifying any potential gaps in TAPS safety oversight. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Identity Verification: GSA Should Demonstrate Its Implementation of Policies for Testing Data Backups on Login.gov
GAO-25-107000
Jun 03, 2025
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
General Services Administration The Administrator of the General Services Administration should direct GSA's Technology Transformation Services division to ensure that Login.gov demonstrates that it fully implemented the policy to test its data backups.
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
View More Recommendations

Related Pages

GAO Contacts