If they have it covered by patents it is protected. It is not just a case of electrical contacts, but also a protocol that both the lens and the camera have to follow. The protocol would be protected as an algorithm. So, to use the interface you would have to use that.
On the NX system the useable lenses are defined by the firmware. If you don't have a Samsung lens the camera won't recognize it and it will be useless unless it is a manual lens or is used as a manual lens.
That is why the only third party lenses you can use through adapters are dumb lenses. The physical mount isn't protected, but the protocols for using the electronics most certainly are.
Lenses such as those from Canon/Nikon/Sony use much older more primitive standards that involve only the physical mount and pin arrangements. That is why people can make active adapters for them. I suspect that will change for things like focus by wire lenses however, since those probably use proprietary codes as well.
Samsung's lens system is well protected because of how they have implemented the interface.
I suspect that you will see more and more of that from other manufacturers as well, particularly when dealing with more sophisticated modern lenses that are integrated into the camera's OS. In the long term the days of products like those from MetaBones or Black Magic are numbered.
