“Montessori” in the Public Domain

In the 1960’s, disputes between two large organizations in the Montessori community, the Association Montessori International (AMI) and the American Montessori Society (AMS) eventually led to a legal decision by the US Patent Office which declared that the name “Montessori” could not be exclusively claimed by any one organization. The name “Montessori” was, therefore, held to be in the public domain as a “generic term” so that many schools, centers, and organizations could use that name without having any approval from either AMI or AMS.   So, many diverse schools arose to call themselves “Montessori” for their own particular commercial or philosophical needs and interests, sometimes organizing together around the training and ideas of a prominent personality in the field.  Still others joined together around the authority and approval of some particular religious, political, or cultural association or philosophy.