A condensed overview discusses the existing grafting approaches and the surface behavior of various hyperbranched polymers. We focus on the recent strategies and corresponding characterization of the resulting surface morphologies and structures with a number of relevant recent results from the authors' own research and existing literature. Some results discussed here are important for prospective applications of hyperbranched polymers in biomedical fields, for resistive coatings, tough blends, and reinforced nanocomposites are briefly summarized as well. V C 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 50: 83-100, 2012 KEYWORDS: adsorption; hyperbranched; LB films; structural characterization; surfaces INTRODUCTION This publication presents a condensed overview of the existing grafting approaches as applied to hyperbranched polymers and discusses the surface morphologies of these polymers and corresponding composites and coatings. We mostly focus on the recent strategies and corresponding characterization of the resulting surface morphologies and structures developed in the authors' group with some relevant examples from current literature. A number of relevant results are also included here especially in relation to recent developments related to novel synthetic approaches of hyperbranched molecules as well as emerging applications of hyperbranched polymers and coatings for biomedical purposes, as resistive coatings, tough blends, and reinforced nanocomposites. Some comprehensive recent reviews on highly branched polymers, which are focused mainly on synthetic aspects can be found in literature.