In the United States at least, ™ doesn't mean "pending" per se — you can use ™ even when you have a registered mark, and marks do not need* to be registered to be valid:
> Is registration of my mark required?
> No. You can establish rights in a mark based on legitimate use of the mark.
*: Some countries operate under a first-to-file system, and unregistered trademarks may be at risk even for US-based businesses that operate internationally.
Even if they have the trademark it's reasonable. You just can't use it for a product that might be confused with theirs by a reasonable person. Do you can still make ice cream called that way or probably even name your next novel like that. Just no tutorials on the tech area.
It also depends if they have registered the trademark on the principal or supplemental registers. Trademarks which are descriptive in nature (such as this one) often can't get on the primary register (though they may after extensive use that results in the mark acquiring a secondary meaning). If a trademark is registered on the supplemental register it doesn't afford the owner the right to exclusive use of that mark - even for similar products. All being on the supplemental register gets you is the right to prevent other similar trademarks being registered.
I've often checked things in USPTO's search system (TESS) to see if they're trademarked before I use them, and this isn't coming up for me. Anyone got any insight(?), as if it is trademarked, all my other searches over the years have been similarly inaccurate and pointless :-D
What you're seeing is the difference between trademarks™ and registered trademarks®. The USPTO lists the latter but not the former. You don't actually have to register a trademark in order to use it, but it's usually a good idea. Which reminds me: now's probably a good time to drop a line to my lawyer…
