Intellectual Property (or IP) is, as the Cornell Legal Information instuted describes it, "In general terms, intellectual property is any product of the human intellect that the law protects from unauthorized use by others.  The ownership of intellectual property inherently creates a limited monopoly in the protected property.  Intellectual property is traditionally comprised of four categories:  patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secrets."

Inventions are protected by patents.

Creative expression (e.g., movies, songs, novels) is protected by Copyright.

Goodwill (as association between a product/services and its source) developed in the marketplace is protected by Trademarks.

A method, formula, process, recipe, technique, etc... that a business takes measures to keep secret may enjoy additional protection of that secret by operation of Trade Secret Law.