Defendants sent threatening correspondence to plaintiffs, alleging violations of Sections 17200 and 17500 California Business & Professions Code, and threatening to drag plaintiffs and their reputation through the proverbial mud and to engage in widespread and negative publicity aimed at sullying the reputation of plaintiffs if plaintiffs did not do what was demanded by defendants. Plaintiffs viewed the assertions of defendants to be without merit, and thus filed a declaratory relief action to ascertain the validity of the relevant issues.