diff --git a/FABRIC-3.md b/FABRIC-3.md
index 830ac6d..e3d171f 100644
--- a/FABRIC-3.md
+++ b/FABRIC-3.md
@@ -3520,5 +3520,10 @@ steady-state/sealed-execution HOL-proven hardware, anchored by the physics-adapt
 Open for reconciliation with counsel: the repo already has a **"Patent pending"** USPTO
 provisional (filed Dec 2025) for the Compudynamics physics-adaptive runtime (`docs/patent/`);
 patent 3 and the three product applications must be positioned relative to it (continuation?
-additive?) — recorded as intent here, nothing filed or drafted. Authoritative form in
-`ROADMAP.md` "IP framing of the three products".
+additive?) — recorded as intent here, nothing filed or drafted. **Driving deadlines
+(clarified 2026-08-29):** #1's provisional will **expire before conversion** (filed ~Dec
+2025, window ~Dec 2026 — priority lost if unconverted; the subject matter can't be re-staked
+by refiling after lapse), so #1 is on a hard clock; **#2 (full StarshipOS) is the December
+deliverable** that keeps the flagship covered — and, pending counsel confirmation, may be the
+conversion vehicle for #1. Authoritative form in `ROADMAP.md` "IP framing of the three
+products".
diff --git a/docs/lithosananke/ROADMAP.md b/docs/lithosananke/ROADMAP.md
index d932051..ffe2bc1 100644
--- a/docs/lithosananke/ROADMAP.md
+++ b/docs/lithosananke/ROADMAP.md
@@ -95,6 +95,23 @@ with one caveat about the pre-existing provisional:
 - **Patent 3 + mark Compudynamics.** The Zynq hardware steady-state machinery with sealed
   executions, HOL-proven — anchored by the physics-adaptive runtime.
 
+**Driving deadlines (why "no hurry" is wrong for #1 and #2), clarified 2026-08-29.** Two
+clocks bind the near term, independent of product #3 and the FPGA:
+
+- **#1 — the provisional will expire before conversion.** Its priority claim is time-boxed:
+  if the non-provisional isn't filed claiming benefit before the provisional's window lapses
+  (provisional filed ~Dec 2025 → window ~Dec 2026), the provisional's priority is lost and
+  the same subject matter cannot be re-staked by refiling thereafter. So #1 is on a hard
+  clock regardless of the December scope.
+- **#2 — full StarshipOS is the December deliverable.** This is what "keeps the flagship
+  covered": the standalone-OS product (and, pending confirmation below, possibly the vehicle
+  that converts #1's provisional) must deliver by December.
+
+- **Open point to resolve with counsel:** is **#2's** application (or the December delivery)
+  the **conversion vehicle** for #1's provisional — i.e., does it claim benefit from the
+  #1 provisional and thereby secure what would otherwise lapse — or is #1 converted by a
+  filing separate from #2? Captured as a decision record; no filing made.
+
 **Relationship to the existing provisional (must be reconciled, not assumed).** The repo
 already carries a **"Patent pending"** USPTO **provisional filed December 2025** for the
 physics-grounded self-adaptive runtime (the Compudynamics adaptive runtime), sourced in