Santa Clara, California - 01 June 2002 (PRN): Network Associates, Inc. (NYSE: NET) today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted the company U.S. Patent number 6,393,424 for its technology invention in the field of server computer systems and databases.Thetechnology described in patent number 6,393,424, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USING A STATIC METADATA OBJECT TO REDUCE DATABASE ACCESSES," allows for fewer accesses by a server to an associated database as the server satisfies requests from client computers.

"Network Associates' new patent encompasses technology that, among other embodiments, allows metadata to be stored on server computers, thereby reducing the time and resources needed to respond to client requests. Benefits to businesses include quicker access to critical information, which places less of a burden on database resources."Network Associates is a fertile ground for developing innovative solutions for our customers," said Christopher Hamaty, Director of Intellectual Property for Network Associates. "Over time our culture of creativity has resulted in a strong group of patents that demonstrates our technical prowess and competitive nature."

Computer networks, including the Internet, are often comprised of multiple servers that frequently have databases attached for storing large amounts of data. When a client computer makes a request for data, the server often accesses the associated database multiple times. Multiple accesses could include an access to retrieve metadata, which in this particular example describes the location of the data to be accessed, and an access to actually retrieve the data using the metadata.

The newly granted patent encompasses a variety of architectures and processes. In the one example described, the metadata is stored on the server instead of a database. Accordingly, the metadata may be shared among different simultaneous client sessions, further reducing the number of accesses to the database.

With headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., Network Associates, Inc. is a leading supplier of network security and availability solutions. Network Associates is comprised of three product groups: McAfee Security, delivering world-class anti-virus and security products; Sniffer Technologies, a leader in network availability and system security; and Magic Solutions, a leader in innovative service management solutions.

For more information, Network Associates can be reached at 972-308-9960 or on the Internet at http://www.networkassociates.com