Maria Montessori was a visionary and a trailblazer in many ways. She refused to be bullied out of the male-dominated schools she attended — the technical school where she initially trained to be an engineer, and her medical school — and she was one of the first ever female physicians in Italy.
What she did not envision, however, was the need for some sort of trademark for the educational philosophy that she developed and that bears her name. Dr. Montessori had set up an organization that would maintain and develop her pedagogy, and she herself worked tirelessly to promote it. As the Montessori method of education grew in popularity around the world, different organizations began to, first, adopt it, and then adapt it.
As you slowly get acquainted with the Montessori method, you’ll eventually hear of one or both of these organizations: the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) and the American Montessori Society (AMS). The first, AMI, was the one founded by Dr. Maria Montessori and carried on after her death by her longtime assistant, her son Mario. AMS is a US-based Montessori organization that has grown very big and influential in the Montessori world.
One time, there was a policy disagreement between AMI and AMS, and Mario Montessori basically said that if AMS wasn’t going to adhere to the principles set by Maria Montessori, then they really ought to drop the name “Montessori”.
In response, AMS sued AMI in an American court, and the American trademark appeal board sided with the American organization, saying that “the term ‘Montessori’ has a generic and/or descriptive significance” and so, for all intents and purposes, everyone has the right to use it.