Consolidated Statements of Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2012	Oct. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 1,445,136	$ 1,330,835	$ 1,158,517
Cost of sales	521,126	526,031	481,794
Gross profit	924,010	804,804	676,723
Selling, general and administrative expense	564,903	513,138	433,057
Research and development expense	51,730	43,581	35,274
Restructuring costs	0	0	424
Amortization of intangibles	23,979	20,529	18,056
Operating income	283,398	227,556	189,912
Interest expense	11,771	17,342	36,668
Gain on insurance proceeds	5,000	0	0
Loss on extinguishment of debt	1,404	16,487	0
Litigation settlement charges	0	0	27,750
Other income (expense), net	229	(963)	(1,068)
Income before income taxes	275,452	192,764	124,426
Provision for income taxes	26,808	17,334	11,623
Net income	248,644	175,430	112,803
Less: Income attributable to noncontrolling interest	305	0	0
Net income attributable to Cooper stockholders	$ 248,339	$ 175,430	$ 112,803
Earnings per share attributable to Cooper stockholders - basic (in dollars per share)	$ 5.18	$ 3.74	$ 2.48
Earnings per share attributable to Cooper stockholders - diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 5.05	$ 3.63	$ 2.43
Number of shares used to compute earnings per share attributable to Cooper stockholders:
Basic (in shares)	47,913	46,904	45,530
Diluted (in shares)	49,152	48,309	46,505