Patent ID: 8098550

Claim:
A method for writing information on a rewritable information recording medium on which a read/write operation is performed on a block-by-block basis, wherein the information recording medium includes: a user data area to store user data written thereon; a spare area including a replacement block that would replace a defective block in the user data area; and a defect management information area to store defect management information for use to manage the defective block in the user data area or the spare area, and wherein the spare area is used sequentially in a predetermined direction, and wherein the defect management information includes: a spare defect attribute indicating the defective block, if any, in the spare area; a defect entry specifying the sector address of the defective block; and next available spare location information for use to manage a location in the spare area from which a next replacement block is available, and wherein the method comprises the steps of: allocating a replacement block to the defective block by reference to the next available spare location information and the defect entry; and updating the next available spare location information, wherein the spare defect attribute includes a provisional spare defect attribute indicating that the defective block in the spare area used to be a defective one but may have had its defect repaired by now, and wherein if it has turned out, while the replacement block is being allocated, that the location of the block indicated by the next available spare location information does not match to the sector address specified by the defect entry, the block pointed to by the next available spare location information is allocated as the replacement block, but if it has turned out, while the replacement block is being allocated, that the location of the block indicated by the next available spare location information matches to the sector address managed by the provisional spare defect attribute, then performed is one of the steps of: (a) allocating the block managed by the provisional spare defect attribute as the replacement block; and (b) allocating a next block, which is determined by skipping that block managed by the provisional spare defect attribute in the predetermined direction, as the replacement block.