There is no equivalent to the software model licences as regards hardware.
Which, I think, is why there is this reluctance to put up schematic diagrams and BOMs here. Most seem to be copies of application note circuits, when studied. At most we get a link to an OSHpark layout to reverse-engineer.
Circuit designs cannot be protected the same way as code, AFAIK. Certainly not the type of drivers we have, even the most esoteric, it has all been done before, they really are not very complicated.
By the way, with all the SW open-source models, has anyone ever exercised their rights if they thought they were being ripped off ? Perhaps they have, maybe they got somewhere, I don’t know, not my area.
And, to be frank, it is the hardware that costs actual money and is the most important thing for manufacturers to optimise. Just saving a few pence by removing or using lower spec. (but still satisfactory) components, or innovative circuit design, intelligently is of great interest to manufacturers.
If the code source is given away for free (but, hopefully you get paid for adapting it to the device) that’s fine by me.
But hardware design, component selection, PCB layout, prototyping, testing, requires expensive tools, skills, knowledge, time, expert materials procurement etc. to do it properly, and is a rather rigid discipline. Not something to be dipped in and out of.
Or done remotely, from a WiFi laptop anywhere in the world. You actually have to check in to the Lab and use the (very expensive) kit to see what’s actually going on.
Quite different from simply connecting a clip and having a few goes until you have something workable.
The PogoPin connector will be transformational I hope.