The sad/bad thing is that simply can’t be enforced and the only thing HA can do if a vendor which (formerly) worked with HA (and had this fancy badge 
) is explained in that post 
So this:
Can (sadly) simply always happen - if there was a badge (partnership) on the box 
or not 
The best investments imho are the ones were not only the hardware can be “owned” but also control over the software/firmware is given. As of today that typically includes devices based on espressif’s esp and probably the raspberry pico w 