Patent ID: 7881169

Claim:
An information recording medium accessible by a recording and/or reproducing apparatus, the information recording medium comprising: a data area comprising: a user data area comprising a plurality of data blocks to store user data; and a spare area comprising replacement blocks for replacing the data blocks in the user data area; and a defect management area configured to store a defect list in which a defect entry is recorded, the defect entry comprising: location information regarding at least one data block; and first status information comprising a first value indicating that the data block is a defective block, wherein the defect entry with the first status information is converted to a new defect entry with second status information during re-initialization, if the data block remains in the user data area after the information recording medium is re-initialized, and wherein the second status information comprises a second value indicating that the data block is a possible defective block, and wherein the defect list comprises a defect list header comprising: information on a number of defect entries comprising the first value among the defect entries included in the defect list, and information on a number of defect entries comprising the second value among the defect entries included in the defect list.