Patent pending means the patent has been approved and is awaiting finalization which can take awhile (paperwork, filing, etc.) True the plans don't show up in patent searches but it will only be that way for a while (usually 4-8 months). There really is no way to keep it in that limbo status. Nor is there really much one can do to prevent a patent from being ripped off by small improvements, but it does give you the security someone couldn't just copy your unit and sell it. Nor do I think they could beat our price either. We have a fantastic way of producing the units that allows us to make them and sell them for about as inexpensive as you can get.
Regardless, that is our strategy, to take advantage of early market interest aggresively, and get our brand out there.