A Manhattan intellectual property law firm’s piercing the corporate veil and fraud claims against a former client for more than $1.2 million in allegedly unpaid fees have been thrown out by a state appeals court.

But IP boutique Springut Law’s remaining claims against a telecommunications patent holding company and its late president, Gerald Weinberger—including claims for breach of contract—continue to be contested in the heated, three-and-a-half-year-old legal battle that now also involves Weinberger’s widow, Irene Weinberger.