Perhaps they did sign them away, but the more likely scenario to me is that POET wins because they meet, coincidentally, all of the RFP requirements to a T, and how can you possibly think that was/is a mistake?

The competitors are barely qualified to compete, I'm not sure they will complain much.

What I find interesting is that no other company on the planet, that could've been working on a similar platform, came forward.

Things like this happen all the time; sometimes it's what, and who you know that makes the difference.