Intellectual property (IP) is all around us. It shapes our art, music, literature, architecture, film, and popular culture. It informs technology, medicine, and science, setting new trajectories for further innovation. It provides the building blocks of modern commerce, guarding economically valuable knowledge, setting parameters around what intangible assets can be owned and how they can be used, and regulating marks that companies use to build their brand. In so doing, IP draws lines that may seem arbitrary, at least without a proper understanding of legal doctrine and history. This survey provides an overview of four areas of IP law: trade secrets, patents, copyrights, and trademarks. We will also take up the issue of international intellectual property, and the United States' role in the globalization of IP standards. (Credits may be applied toward Transactional Law Practice Concentration.)