Axinn represented Google in the Standard Essential Patent investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. The team included partners John D. Harkrider and Russell Steinthal. For his work representing Google, John D. Harkrider was named by American Lawyer as Litigator of the Week along with Susan Creighton of Wilson, Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and John S. Schmidtlein of Williams of Connolly.