Digital patents have become an increasingly prominent form of technological activity at the firm level, but their significance for sustainable development depends on whether digital knowledge can be transformed into sustained productivity improvement, industrial upgrading and innovation capabilities. This study reassesses the relationship between digital patents, R&D investment and total factor productivity of Chinese listed companies. The study does not regard productivity as a narrow result of firm performance, but interprets it as the economic basis for sustainable industrial development, productive employment and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 8 and 9. Research results show that firms with high digital patenting intensity tend to have higher total factor productivity, while simply distinguishing between firms with and without digital patents provides weaker evidence. This finding shows that the depth of digital technology accumulation is more important than the existence of digital patent activity itself. In addition, the analysis also challenges the view that R&D investment has a direct positive mediating effect on productivity. Digital patents and R&D investment seem to promote each other over time, but the impact of additional R&D investment on short- and medium-term productivity is negative, indicating the existence of adjustment costs, experimentation burdens and delayed returns. The productivity relevance of digital patenting is also uneven: It is stronger among non-state-owned firms and high-technology firms, where market incentives and absorptive capacity are more favourable. Theoretically, the study contributes to the digital innovation and sustainable development literature by conceptualising digital patents as capability infrastructure that supports the economic-efficiency conditions of sustainable industrial transformation. Practically, the findings suggest that firms and policymakers should not evaluate digital innovation only by patent counts or short-term R&D expenditure. Greater attention should be given to organisational flexibility, technological absorptive capacity and the time required to convert digital knowledge into productivity gains that support long-term industrial upgrading and sustainable social development.

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