Business notebook

Bumped up: Shares of 3Com Corp., the unprofitable Marlborough maker of computer-networking equipment, rose 17 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $4.53 after The Wall Street Journal reported that buyout firms are studying a takeover of the company.

Bagged: Whole Foods Market Inc.'s sale of a $15 limited-edition designer shopping bag drew throngs of customers, some weathering rain, to 15 of the retailer's Northeast stores before they opened.

Recall: Baxter International Inc. said 4,500 of its infusion pumps have been removed from use after the company received reports of 16 serious injuries.

Energy bill: New England energy provider Northeast Utilities paid Bond & Co. $60,000 in the first half of 2007 to lobby the federal government, according to a disclosure form.

Endorsement: Cerberus Capital Management LP chairman John Snow backed a Senate proposal to more than double taxes on publicly traded hedge-fund and private-equity firms.

Licensing deal: Infogrames Entertainment SA reached an agreement with Hasbro Inc. for the Pawtucket, R.I., company to gain extended rights to the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.

Settlement: Northrop Grumman Corp. agreed to pay $8 million to resolve US claims it failed to properly test military equipment used in night-vision goggles and sniper scopes, the Justice Department said.

Fired up: Zippo Manufacturing Co., a maker of lighters for 75 years, won an order to block US imports of knockoffs from China that copy its trademarked flip-top design.

Let the games begin: Viacom Inc.'s Nickelodeon unit, which airs cartoons such as SpongeBob SquarePants (right), plans to spend $100 million to develop Internet-based video games for children ages 8 to 14, part of a plan to increase the company's online gaming business.

iJam: Apple Inc.'s iPhones may be jamming parts of the wireless network at Duke University, where technology officials worked with the company to fix problems before classes start next month.

(Globe wire services)