Thermodynamic control of patent tokenization for sustainable development

Andreas Peters^*

• University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim, Rosenheim, Germany

Background: Patent tokenization converts intellectual property (IP) into tradable digital units. Pilots on IPwe, IBM and Ocean Protocol have processed >1,500 assets (≈$62 M since 2019). In practice, schedules are often fixed and pricing simplified; risk preferences are typically ignored—costing value in volatile settings relevant to the SDGs. Methods: We cast patent tokenization as risk-sensitive control and link economic risk aversion to inverse temperature. With the exponential transform Φ = e−γV , the risk-sensitive HJB linearizes for fixed controls; the optimal policy is a pointwise threshold (bang–bang or smoothly regularized). This preserves tractability and enables millisecond solves. Results: From 45 tokenization trajectories (12 held out) we estimate γ = 2.1±0.38 (95% CI), while a composite objective F(γ) calibrated to equity-like orders peaks at γ∗≈3.02 ([2.9, 3.2]). Monte Carlo (n = 10,000) shows ≈76% downside reduction and a 92% success rate under ledger-based schedules. Solver latency drops by ∼850× (40 s →47 ms). Conclusion: The thermodynamic lens explains why practice (γ ≈2.1) deviates from the theoretical benchmark (γ∗≈3.0) in our calibration: actors appear to trade maximal efficiency for robustness. The framework stabilizes revenues, drives fees toward negligible levels, and supports SDG-aligned innovation finance by lowering the cost of access and adaptation under uncertainty.