I was going to implement a software I2C master, which requires licensing according to Philips. And of course the periphials were 3rd party licensed parts.
So acording to the License, 'Any' implementation (ie software fpga etc)would require licensing to 'Talk' on the I2C bus.
I did ponder the idea that a purchased periphial would satisfy the requirements, but my master 'Talks' on the I2C bus, which is specifically stated in the Philips info that I recieved, thus it falls into the license requirements.
Also, since a Software master implements the Patent, it then would require the licensing.
If I had a micro with a I2C built in, then the licensing (theoretically) should be taken care of by the OEM.

Martin