If you’re as haphazard with your iPhone as I am, it probably didn’t take you very long to figure out that a nice, solid case was in your best interest. And it probably wasn’t very long before that case was dinged up, nicked, scratched and gouged to pieces from repeated contact with walls and floors (both intentional and unintentional, of course).

Nissan wants to make dinged up iPhone cases a thing of the past, as they have just announced the Nissan Scratch Shield iPhone Case, billed as “the world’s first self-healing iPhone case.”

“Self-healing” means that when you scratch your case, it will automatically fix the blemish. Easy as that. This works because “the outer ‘paint’ is made from polyrotaxane, which means that when damage occurs to the coating in the form of a fine scratch, the chemical structure is able to react to change back to its original shape and fill the gap.”

The healing process will take anywhere from an hour to a week, depending on the size of the scratch. This paint technology was originally developed back in 2005, and is currently in use in Nissan automobiles like the Murano, 370Z and X-Trail, as well as some Infiniti models.

The Scratch Shield case touts other beneficial features, as Nissan says the flexible, tight-fitting case sports a tactile gel-like surface as opposed to a glossy surface – which cuts down on scratches in the first place and provides a better grip.

So when can you get your hands on one? According to Nissan, hopefully later this year. The first batch of prototypes is going through beta testing with a select group of consumers. If all goes according to plan, you could have your self-healing case before the end of 2012.

This isn’t the first time this scratch technology has been used outside of automobiles:

“We’re really excited about the possibilities provided by this technology, said Bob Laishley, Overseas Program Director Business Development for Nissan in Europe. “In Japan, we’ve already linked up with world-leading mobile operator NTT DoCoMo to allow them to use the Scratch Shield technology on its Style Series N-03B mobile phones, and we think this technology has real scope beyond the automotive world. We’re passionate about innovations that get people excited, and that means not being restricted to one industry or genre.”

For anyone whose iPhone case takes a beating on a regular basis, it’s a no-brainer that they might want to at least give this new case a look.

[Images Courtesy JapanTrends]