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The trial of the 35-year old Chinese National Hongjin Tan, who is accused of attempting to steal nearly $1 billion in Phillips 66 battery storage trade secrets at the company’s Bartlesville laboratories, has been rescheduled again in Tulsa U.S. District Court.

Judge Gregory K. Frizzell issued a new trial date  of November 12 at 9:30 a.m. following a hearing October 7 on the charges against Tan. It is at least the fifth delay in the trial since Tan’s arrest in December 2018 following his resignation in Bartlesville.

Tan was a “materials scientist” for the Disruptive Technologies team at the Phillips 66 Research Center when he resigned in December 2018, indicating he wanted to return to his native China to care for his parents. He was arrested after company authorities reviewed his computer access following the resignation and discovered he had allegedly stolen technology valued at more than $1 billion.

According to http://www.okenergytoday.com, government prosecutors have sought a trial protective order so some of the technology will not be revealed publicly during Tan’s trial, but Tan’s defense attorney, Ryan A. Ray says such an order would be “unduly burdensome” and that “protecting alleged trade secrets from public disclosure cannot be done with a one-size-fits-all solution.”