You can’t trademark something like simply adding an LCD or backlighting, you’re right about that. However, although you can’t trademark something like that, backlighting can become part of the brand’s identity. For instance, although one cannot trademark a stone modwheel or a wooden pitch bender, one can trademark them if their design is a proprietary “invention” as it would be called in legal speak. When one sees those features, though, you know it is a Clavia synth. Just like no one else really makes many red synths… Korg wouldn’t want their latest and greatest to be mistaken for Clavia, you know? 
So, just like Clavia has their red-painted-stone-modwheeled-wooden-pitch-bending synths, backlit synths in general are a part of the Moog brand. I believe that Moog letting go of backlighting is akin to Clavia releasing black or silver synths and abandoning the red paint scheme, or using standard plastic/rubber pitch and mod wheels. Although, in my opinion, Clavia stone and wood accoutrements are a bit more “unique” and someone using the same idea would look more like a hack than, say, DSI using yellow backlighting on a black version of the Mopho (hmmm… that would actually look pretty cool). Still, branding, though not always dependant on trademarks and other legal instruments, relies almost entirely on the market’s perception. When you see a backlit synth onstage, you know that’s a Moog. Hell, I was at a Prince concert this past Tuesday and on one of the screens I saw the keyboardist playing a black synth with electric blue backlighting in that all too familiar pattern. Guess what that was! 
She also played other big black synths but who in the world knows what those were.
Moog has competition new and old, and as we know from watching sports, when you’re the champion everyone is gunning for you. If you were the Miami Heat and you kept marquee players Lebron James and Dwyane Wade but released Chris Bosh (compared to Moog’s signature sound, history, and aesthetics, respectively), wouldn’t you as the competitor try to sign Chris Bosh (i.e. implement tried and true plans that worked for the champion in your industry: Moog) and challenge a Heat team missing one of its most recognizable and appreciated players? Then again, sometimes there isn’t enough room under the salary cap (i.e. annual budget) to keep all of your star players. In which case, a good front office (i.e. management team) will bring new, brilliant talent onboard who can not only make up for the loss of that valuable player, but also add to the current championship-caliber roster (i.e. Moog would introduce a branding element or instrument as strong as the backlighting or Voyager SS customization option, or even stronger). That, or you can either wind up like the Florida Marlins, who win a World Series, become champions, and clean house and let go of all their talent and start from scratch, or like the Chicago White Sox who win a World series, become champions, let go of a few key players and keep other good players, then try - to the point of frustration - to find guys who can adequately fill the vacancies left by those few star players who are now playing for another team.
If Moog’s upcoming announcement does not produce something that significantly enhances the brand, they could be leaving an opening for their competitors. I think they should keep at least one backlit option (like I mentioned in my previous post, at least the electric blue voyager or RME or whatever) to keep wannabes away. Hopefully, their announcement won’t be along the lines of another Animoog type of product or a Slim Phatty II or something like that. Don’t get me wrong, the Animoog seems like a great product and the SP is too, but they need to match the impact of the SS’s discontinuation with something just as significant or more. 
