There are 3 main types of intellectual property that are recognized in almost all countries of the world.

Copyrights. Copyrights protect an expression of an idea. For example, a book can be copyrighted, so that anyone who sells unauthorized copies of the book can be sued. However, a copyright does not protect the idea behind an expression. So if an author copyrighted his murder mystery involving 2 protaganists, it doesn't mean that no one else can write a 2-protaganist murder mystery. That would only be true if the idea of a murder mystery involving 2 protaganists were patented (which thankfully it isn't, or we wouldn't have too many stories to read).

Trademarks. Trademarks protect a sign or a phrase or some other distinctive symbol that identifies a particular person or company that produces products. A trademark may also protect a brand or some other symbol that uniquely identifies products from a certain source. For example, I could trademark a brand called "Plain Jane Cookies", so that no one else would be able to sell cookies using the "Plain Jane Cookies" name. This would prevent my customers from being fooled into buying someone else's cookies when they are looking for mine. That's essentially the intent of Trademarks, to prevent others from "impersonating" you in the context of selling products and services.

Patents. Patents protect an idea. In a sense, it is a stronger form of protection than a copyright because it protects the idea behind something, not just the thing itself. For example, say I have invented a new super sorting algorithm that sorts gene sequences in superfast O(1) time and wrote a program to do this (those computer science experts among you will contend that this is impossible, but humor me for a moment). If I only copyrighted my program, then someone could just write a slightly different program using the same algorithm, and I wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him. But if I had patented my super-algorithm, then anyone else writing any program that uses this algorithm would have to get permission from me.

However, partly because they are such a strong form of protection, patents are not easily granted. The patent examiner must be convinced that your idea is truly something novel (new), and you must be able to demonstrate how your idea can be embodied. i.e. you must be able to show how to implement your invention. You can't for example, patent the idea of a Star Trek transporter unless you can demonstrate how to build one in your patent filing.