One of the most exciting studies of contemporary physics is that of high temperature superconductor (HTS). Since its discovery, a large body of experimental and theoretical work by various groups has attempted to achieve a common understanding of this phenomenon. One of the main driving forces for applications centres on the possibility of new and improved microwave devices based on HTS materials, mainly due to the large reduction in the surface resistance that HTS has to offer. However, various problems need to be addressed before the use of HTS materials can be justified, for example fundamental issues such as the nonlinearity of these materials with respect to microwave power, which form the basis of this work. Microwave measurements were conducted on four magnetron sputtered and three laser ablated, Icm2 YBCO thin films, grown on LaAI03 and MgO substrates, respectively, employing the dielectric (rutile) resonator and coplanar resonator techniques. The low power response of the films was initially analysed, looking for clues to the underlying pairing mechanisms in these films. Power dependence and microwave intennodulation distortion (lMD) measurements were conducted between 12 K to 60 K to investigate the nonlinear response of the films, both in zero and finite dc (10 mT) fields. The effect of patterning on the microwave response of the films was also studied. From these measurements, it was observed that the microwave losses of these films are extrinsic in nature, probably a consequence of weak links/defects, and the results also show that films fabricated from the same technique can have significantly varying quality.