Not a patent attorney, but as far as I know: The patent is currently pending (as in, being evaluated to see if it will be granted). Once it is granted in one country it can be expanded to multiple countries within a couple of months, given that the first country is part of the Patent Cooperation Treaty. So if an invention is marked “patent pending”, you know you will have the risk of being sued by said company at some time in the future if you copy the invention.