Maybe the Aztecs were wrong? A new report out this week claims that the prolonged battle between Apple and Nokia over mobile technology patents may drag on for years, and won’t hit the courts until the middle of 2012 -- another coming sign of the apocalypse?

Reuters uncovered the mid-2012 trial date with the U.S. International Trade Commission in a court filing this week, according to AppleInsider. Such a faraway date seems to confirm “the spectre of a prolonged legal battle.”

Nokia threw the first punch last fall, suing Apple over alleged patent violations. Apple responded with a countersuit claiming the same, with the tech world launching into early speculation that the court battle could last two or three years. The U.S. International Trade Commission agreed to investigate Nokia’s claims against Apple in January, but only weeks later the grenade was lobbed back in Nokia’s direction and now the ITC must investigate both companies’ claims.

Apple originally accused Nokia of infringing 13 parents held by the company, but Reuters now notes that four of those have been dropped.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has stated that he believes what Nokia is really after is a one or two percent royalty on every iPhone sold -- amounting to $6 to $12 per handset as compensation for the alleged patent infringements related to GSM, 3G and Wi-Fi technology.

Of course, Apple launched a first strike attack against Google Android partner HTC earlier this month, claiming the Taiwanese handset maker is infringing upon 20 Apple patents related to the user interface, underlying architecture and hardware. Meanwhile, Kodak has a pending ITC investigation against Apple, accusing Cupertino of “infringing on patents related to the previewing of images and processing them at different resolutions.”

Not a good time to be on Apple’s legal team, unless you’re a partner in the firm.